But are there not some virtues between which nature herself has made such distinction, that by no practice can they be brought into the common use of both sexes? At all events, to sow and to beget children is the especial property of man, according to his peculiar capacity, and no woman could manage to do this. And again, the nature of man does not make him capable of bearing children, which is the good deed of women; therefore these things, which are innate in the nature of man, cannot be predicated with propriety of God, but it is done only through some catachrestical misappli- cation of terms, by which we make amends for our weakness. You will take away therefore, 0 my mind, whatever is created or mortal, or changeable or unconsecrated, from your concep- tions, regarding the uncreate God, immortal, unchangeable, and holy, the only God, blessed for ever.
XXXI. But it is most entirely in accordance with nature " to sacrifice the males of every creature that openeth the womb, to God."* For as nature has given to women the womb, as the part most excellently adapted for the generation of animals, so also for the production of things she has placed <i power in the soul, by means of which the mind conceives and is in travail, and brings forth many things. But of the ideas which are brought forth by the mind, some are male and some female, as in the case of animals. Now the female offspring of the soul are wickedness and passion, by which we are made effeminate in every one of our pursuits; but a * Exodus xiii. 12.
232 PH1L0 JUD^US.
healthy state of the passions and virtue is male, by which we are excited and invigorated. Now of these, whatever be longs to the fellowship of men must be attributed to God, and everything that relates to the similarity to women must be imputed to one's self, on which account the command was de- livered, " Of everything which openeth the womb the male3 belong to the Lord.
XXXII. But also he says, " The males belong to the Lord of everything which openeth the womb, of thy flocks and of thy cattle, and of all that belongs to thee." Having spoken of the offspring of the principal part of the soul, he begins to give us information about the produce of the irrational part, which the outward senses have obtained for their inheritance, which he likens to cattle, and to the young which are bred up in the herds, being tame and tractable, inasmuch as they are guided by the care of their overseer, that is to say, of the shepherd; for those which are let run loose and are indulged with freedom, are made wild from want of any one to make them gentle. But those which have guides, such as goat- herds, cowherds, and shepherds, who are the managers of every species of cattle, they I say are of necessity made tame. Moreover the genus of the outward senses is formed by nature, so as to be in one instance wild and in another tract- able; it is wild, when having shaken off the rein of the mind as of its herdsman, it is borne on irrationally towards the external objects of the outward senses; but it is tame when having yielded in an obedient manner to reason, which is the guide of the discernment, it is regulated and directed in.its course by it.
Whatever therefore it sees or hears, or, in short, whatever it feels with any one of its inward senses according to the injunction of the mind, all these things are male and perfect, for goodness is added to each; but whatever is done without any guide, in a state of anarchy, in such case the body ruins us as anarchy ruins a city. Again, we must consider that those motions of the outward senses which proceed in obedience to the mind, and which of necessity are the better, do take place according to the dispensation of God; but these which are obstinate and disobedient, we must impute to ourselves, when we are carried away irrationally by the impetuosity of tho outward senses.
ON THE SACRIFICES OF ABEL AND CAIN. 233 XXXIII. And he has commanded us to take a portion not only from the things which have just been mentioned, but also from the entire mass in combination. And the command is couched in the following words: " And it shall be, when ye eat of the fruit of the land, that ye shall take a part to offer up as a heave-offering unto the Lord: ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave-offering as ye do the heave- offering of the threshing-floor, so shall ye offer it."* Now speaking properly, if we must avow the exact truth, it is we ourselves who are this dough; since many essences are kneaded and combined together that we may be made perfect: for the great Creator having mingled and kneaded together the cold and hot, dry and moist, opposite properties, has made out of them all one distinct combination, ourselves, from which the expression dough is applied to us. Now, of this combination in which body and soul, two most important divisions, are united, the first fruits are to be consecrated. But tbe first fruits are the holy motions of each in accordance with virtue; on which account they have been compared to a threshing- floor. As, therefore, on a threshing-floor there is wheat and barley, and as many more of such things as are capable of being separated by themselves, and husks and chaff, and what- ever other refuse is dissipated and scattered in different directions, so too, with us, there are some things which are excellent and useful, and which afford real nourishment, by means of which a good life is brought to perfection; all which things we should attribute to God. But there are other things which are not divine, which we must leave like refuse to the race of mankind; but from these some portions must be taken away, and there are some entire virtues, free from all wickedness, which it would be impious to mutilate by dividing them, and which resemble those indivisible sacrifices, the whole burnt-offerings, of which Isaac is a manifest pattern, whom his father was commanded to offer up like a victim, sharing in no destructive passion.
And in another passage it is said, " My gifts, and my offerings, and my sacrifices, ye will take care to offer to me at my festivals: " not taking away from them, nor dividing them, but bringing them forward full, and entire, and perfect; for the feast of the soul is cheerfulness in perfect virtues; and * Numbers xv. 19.
234 PHILO JUD.fiUS.
the perfect virtues are all those which the human race exhibits, free from all stain or spot. But the wise man alorie can keep such a festival as this, and no other human being; for it is a most rare thing to find a soul which has never tasted of wickedness or passions.
XXXIV. Having therefore given an account of the domi- nant and subject divisions of the soul, and having shown what portion in each is male and female, Moses proceeds after this very consistently to explain the divisions of the body. For being well aware that without labour and care it is not possible to obtain a masculine offspring, he proceeds to say, " Every foal of an ass that openeth the womb, thou shalt exchange for the young of a sheep."* Which expression is equivalent to, " Exchange all labour for improvement." Eor an ass is the symbol of labour, being a much enduring animal, and a sheep is the emblem of improvement, as its very1 name shows, t being a symbol of the care which is required to be expended in arts and professions, and all other things which are matters of instruction, and that with no negligence or indifference, but it is necessary with all anxiety to have prepared one's mind to encounter vigorously every amount of labour, and to strive not to be held in bondage by ill-considered toil, but to find ad- vance and improvement by pushing on to the most glorious end; for labour is to be endured for the sake of improve- ment. But if you indeed receive fatigue from labour, and still your nature does not advance at all on the road to improvement, but is rather opposed to your becoming better by progress, then abandon the pursuit and be quiet, for it is a difficult task to go against nature. On which account the scripture adds: " And if you do not exchange it, you shall ransom it for money;" which means, but if you are not able to exchange labour for improvement, then give up your labour; for the idea of ransoming carries with it the notion of emanci- pating the mind from vain and unproductive care.
XXXV. But I am speaking here, not of the viitues but of the arts of intermediate character, and of other necessary studies which are conversant about the attention due to the body, and about the abundance of external goods. But since the labour which is applied to what is perfectly good and * Exodus xiii. 13. + l\p6(iaTov, derived from npojiaivu), to advance forward.
ON THE SACRIFICES OF ABEL AND CAIN. 235 excellent, even if it fall short of attaining its object, is never- theless of such a character that it by itself does good to those who exert it, while the things which are unconnected with virtue unless their aim is attained, are entirely unprofitable. For as in the case of animals, if you take away the head there is an end of the whole animal, but the head of actions is their end, as they in a manner live if the end is arrived at, but if you cut off their end and mutilate them they die. So too let those athletes who are not able to gain the victory but who are invariably defeated, condemn their trade; and if any mer- chant or captain of a ship in all his voyages meets with inces- sant disasters, let him turn away from the business and rest. And those men who, having devoted themselves to the inter- mediate arts, have nevertheless through the ruggedness of their nature been unable to acquire any learning, are to be praised for abandoning them: for such studies are not practised for the sake of the practice, but for the sake of the object towards which the labourer is borne. If therefore nature hinders one's improvement for the better, let us not strive against her in an unprofitable way, but if she co-operates with us then let us honour the Deity wiih first fruits and honours, which are the ransom of our soul, emancipating it from sub- jection to cruel masters, and elevating it to freedom.
XXXVI. For Moses confesses that the Levites who being taken in exchange for the first-born, were appointed ministers of him who alone is worthy to be ministered unto, were the ransom of all the rest of the Israelites. " For I," says God, " behold, I have chosen the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, instead of every first-born that openeth the womb from among the children of Israel; they shall be their ran- som and the Levites shall belong to me: for every first-born is mine; from that day in which I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, I dedicated to myself all the first-born of Israel."* Reason which fled to God and became his suppliant, is what is here called the Levite; God having taken this from the most central and dominant part of the soul, that is to say, having taken it to himself and appropriated it as his own share, thought it worthy of the honour due to the first-born. So that from these it is plain that Reuben is the first-born of Jacob, but * Leviticus iii. 12.
236 PHILO JUDjEUS.
236 PHILO JUDjEUS.
Levi the first born of Israel, the one having the honours of seniority according to time, but the other according to dignity and power. For Jacob being the symbol of labour and im- provement, is also the beginning of goodness of disposition, which is signified in Reuben: but the fountain of contemplation of the only wise being, according to which the name of Israel is given, is the principle of being inclined to minister to him; and of such ministry the Levite is the symbol.
As therefore Jacob is found to be the inheritor of the birth-right of Esau, eagerness in wickedness having been defeated by virtuous labour, so also Levi, as one who devotes himself to perfect virtue, will cany off the honours of seniority from Reuben, the man of a good disposition. But the most undeniable proof of perfection is for a man to be a fugitive to God, having abandoned all concern for the things of creation.
XXXVII. These then, to speak with strict propriety are the prices to be paid for the preserving and ransoming of the soul which is desirous of freedom. And may we not say that in this way a very necessary doctrine is brought forward? Namely that every wise man is a ransom for a worthless one, who would not be able to last for even a short time, if the wise man by the exertion of mercy and prudence did not take thought for his lasting; as a physician opposing himself to the infirmities of an invalid, and either rendering them slighter, or altogether removing them unless the disease comes on with irresistible violence, and surmounts all the ingenuity of medical skill. And in this way Sodom was destroyed, since there was, as it were, no good which could be put in the scale sufficient to outweigh the unspeakable multitude of its wickednesses. So that if the fiftieth number could have been found, according to which an emancipation from the slavery of the soul and complete freedom is proclaimed, or if any one of the numbers below fifty which the wise Abraham enumerated descending at last down to ten, the number peculiar to instruc- tion, the mind would not have been destroyed in so inglorious a manner. We ought at times to endeavour as far as possible to preserve those who are not on the point of being utterly destroyed by the wickedness that is in them; imitating good physicians who, even if they see that it is impossible for those who are sick to recover, nevertheless apply their remedies with cheerfulness, lest it should appear that it was owing to ON THE SACRIFICES OF ABEL AND CAIN. 237 their neglect that the affair did not turn out as it was desired. And if ever so slight a seed of good health is seen, this is to be cherished as a spark of fire with all imaginable care; for there is hope that if it can have its duration protracted and its strength increased the man may for the future have a better life and one more free from danger.
Therefore when I see any good man dwelling in any house or city, I pronounce that house or that city happy, and I think that its enjoyment of its present good things is sure, and that its expectation of future happiness will be accomplished, inas- much as, for the sake of those who are worthy, God will bestow his boundless and illimitable riches even on the un- worthy. And I pray that they may live to as great an age as possible, since it is not possible that they should ever grow old, as I expect that good fortune will remain to men as long as these men are able to live in the practice of virtue When, therefore, I see or hear that any one of these men is dead, I am exceedingly downcast and grieved, and I lament those who are left behind alive as much as I lament them; for to the one I see, that the necessary end has arrived in consistency with the ordinances of nature, and that they have exhibited a happy life and a glorious death. But I look upon the others as now deprived of the great and mighty hand by which they were saved, and as likely, now that they are bereft of it, soon to feel the evils which are due to them, unless, indeed, instead of the former men, who are gone, nature should be preparing to make other young men shoot up, as in the case of a tree which has already shed its ripe fruit for the nourishment and enjoyment of those who are able to make use of it. As, there- fore, good men are the strongest part of cities, with a view to their duration, so also in that state of each individual of us, which consists of soul and body, the reasoning powers which are attached to prudence and knowledge, are the firmest part of its foundation; which the legislator, using metaphorical lan- guage, calls the ransom and the first-born, on account of those reasons which I have already mentioned.
In this way he also says, " The cities of the Levites are ransomed for ever, because the minister of God enjoys eternal freedom, according to the continuous revolutions of the ever- moving soul," and he admits incessant healing applications; 238 PHILO JUD.EUS for when he calls them ransomed, not once, hut for ever, as he says, he means to convey such a meaning as this, that they are always in a state of revolution, and always in a state of freedom, the state of revolution being implanted in them because of their natural mortality, but their freedom coming to them because of their ministration to God.
XXXVIII. But it is worth while to consider, in no passing manner, why he granted the cities of the Levites to fugitives, thinking it right that even these, who appear entirely impious, should dwell with the most holy of men. Now these fugitives are they who have committed, unintentionally, homicide. First of all, therefore, we must repeat what is consistent with what has been already said, that tbe good man is the ransom of the worthless one, so that they who have sinned will naturally come to those who have been hallowed, for the sake of being purified; and, in the second place, we must consider that the Levites admit the fugitives because they themselves are poten- tially fugitives; for as they are driven away from their coun- try, so these others also have left their children, their parents, their brethren, their nearest and dearest things, in order that they may receive an immortal inheritance instead of a mortal one. But they differ, because the flight of the one is involun- tary, being caused by an unintentional action, but the flight of the others is voluntary, from a love of what is most excel- lent; and because the one have the Levites for a refuge; but the Levites have the Lord of all for their refuge, in order that those who are imperfect may have the sacred scriptures for their law; but that the others may have God for theirs, by whom they are hallowed. Moreover, those who have com- mitted unintentional homicide, have been allotted the same cities as the Levites to dwell in, because they also were thought worthy of a privilege because of a holy slaughter.
When therefore the soul being changed, came to honour the Egyptian God, the body, as fine gold, then all the sacred writings rushing forth of their own accord with defensive weapons, namely demonstrations according to knowledge, putting forward as their leader and general the chief priest, and prophet, and friend of God, Moses, proclaimed an un- ce sing war in the cause of piety, and would not hear of peace till they had put down all the doctrines of those who opposed ON THE SACRIFICES OF ABEL AND CAIN. 239 them, so that they naturally came to inhabit the same dwellings, inasmuch as they had done similar actions, though not the same.
XXXIX. There is also another opinion bruited about, as something of a secret, which it is right to lay up in the ears of the elders, not divulging it to the younger men; for of all the most excellent powers which exist in God, there is one equal to the others in honour, that is the legislative one (for he himself is a lawgiver and the fountain of all laws, and all particular lawgivers are subordinate to him), and this legis- lative power is divided in a twofold division, the one having reference to the rewarding of those who do well, and the other to the punishment of those who have sinned; accord- ingly the Levite is the minister of the former division, for he performs all the ministrations which have a reference to perfect holiness, according to which the human race is raised up to and brought to the notice of God, either by whole burnt offerings, or else by saving sacrifices, or else by repentance for one's sins.
But of the other and punishing division of the legislative power, those who have committed unintentional homicide are the ministers. And Moses bears witness to this saying, " He was not willing, but God gave him into his hands,"* so that his hands are here taken as instruments; but he who energizes by their means in an invisible manner, must be the other being, the invisible. Let therefore the two servants dwell together, being the ministers of the tow species of the legislative power; the Levite being the minister of the division which has reference to the reward of them that do well, and the unintentional homicide of the division which is conversant about punishment.
"But in the day," says God, " on which I smote the first- born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated to myself all the first- born of Israel. "f And he says this not to lead us to suppose that at the time when Egypt was stricken with this mighty blow by the destruction of all its first-born, the first-born of Israel all became holy, but because both in former times, and now, and hereafter, and for ever, this naturally happens in the case of the soul, that when the most dominant parts of blind passion are destroyed, then the elder and most honourable * Exodus xxi. 13. ■ t Exodus xiii. 15.
240 PHILO JUDAIUS.
offspring of God, who sees everything with a piercing sight, becomes holy; for the departure of wickedness brings abouc the entrance of virtue, as, on the other hand, when what is good is driven away, then what was bad, having been lying in ambush, comes in to supply the void. Jacob then had scarcely at all gone out,* when Esau entered, not the mind which receives everything, being stamped with the impression of wickedness instead of the figures of virtue, if that is possible; but he would not have been able to effect this, for he will be supplanted and overthrown by the wise man before he knows it, the wise man being prompt to repel the impending injury before it can affect him.
XL. A.nd he brings not only the first fruits from the first- born, but also from the fat; showing by this that whatever there is in the soul that is cheerful, or fat, or preservative and pleasant, might all be surrendered to God. And I see also in the arrangements established about sacrifices, that three things are enjoined to be offered from the victims; in the first place the fat, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver, about which we will speak separately; but not the brain or the heart which it seemed natural should be dedicated before the other parts, since, according to the language of the lawgiver, the dominant power is recognised as existing in one of them.
But may it not be owing to an exceeding holiness and to very accurate consideration of the matter that he did not bear these things to the faithful altar of God? because that dominant part being subject to changes in either direction, either for bad or good, in an indivisible moment of time receives impressions which are continually changing, at one time impressions of what is pure and approved, and at others of an adulterated and base coinage.
Therefore the lawgiver judging a place which was capable of receiving both these opposite qualities, namely, what is honourable, and what is disgraceful, and which was adapted to each, and distributed equal honour to both, to be quite as much impure as holy, removed it from the altar of God. For what is disgraceful is profane, and what is profane is by all means unholy; and this is why the dominant part is kept away from sacrifices, but if it is subjected to examination, then, when all its parts have been purified, it will be consecrated as * Genesis xxvii. 1.
THE WORSE PLOTTING AGAINST THE BETTER. 241 a burnt- offering, free from all stain, and from all pollution. For this is the law respecting whole burnt offerings, that with the exception of the refuse of the food, and of the skin which are tokens of the weakness of the body and not of wickedness nothing else should be left to the creature, but that all the other parts which exhibit the soul perfect in all its parts, should be presented as a whole burnt offering to God.
A TREATISE ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT THE WORSE IS ACCUSTOMED TO BE ALWAYS PLOTTING AGAINST THE BETTER.
I. And Cain said to Abel his brother, " Let us go to the field. And it came to pass, that while they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."* What Cain proposes to do is this: having by invitation led Abel on to a dispute, to convince him by main force, using plausible and probable sophisms; for the field to which he invites him to come, we may call a symbol of rivalry and contention, form- ing our conjectures of things that are uncertain from our per- ception of those which are manifest. For we see that most contests, both in peace and in war, take place in the open fields. In peace, therefore, all those who practise gymnastic contests, seek for level race-courses and plain fields: and, in a war, it is not usual to have battles, of either infantry or cavalry, on hills; for many more disasters arise from the un- favourable character of the ground, than from anything that the enemies do to one another.
II. And a very great proof of this is the conduct of the practiser of knowledge, Jacob, when warring against the oppo- site disposition, ignorance; when it is beheld in the field how he regulates the irrational faculties in the soul after a fashion, reproving and correcting them. " For Jacob having sent, called Leah and Rachel into the plain where the flocks were;"f showing here clearly, that the plain is the symbol of revolt and contention. And he calls them and says, " I see * Genesis iv. 8. T Genesis xxxi. 4.
242 PH1L0 JUDiEUS.