stumbling, the mind being borne witness to in everything that • Genesis xi. 29. t Genesis xxviii. 2.
J Exodus vi 23. § Genesis xxiv. 67. II Exodus ii. 21.
304 PHILO JUD.EUS.
is uttered." But I, if any man employs a felicitous and well directed mind to good objects only, account that man happy taking the law for my teacher in this view. For the law called Joseph " a prosperous man," * not in all things, but " in those matters in which God gave him prosperity." And all the gifts of God are good. But if any one uses the acuteness and readiness of his nature, not solely for virtuous objects, but also for opposite purposes, being himself indifferent in a matter which is not indifferent, he should be accounted unhappy. At all events it is said, in the manner of a curse, in the place where mention is made of the confusion of tongues, "And now nothing will be restrained from them of all the things which they have imagined to do."f For in truth it is an irremediable calamity for the soul to be prosperous in whatever it undertakes, when its undertak- ings are disgraceful. But I should pray, if ever I had a design to commit injustice, that I might fail in my iniquity; and if I had a wish to live in a manner unbecoming a man, that I might fail in my intemperance; and if T wished to con- duct myself with boldness and unscrupulous wickedness, that my failure in such boldness and unscrupulous wickedness might be complete: unless in;hb case of those who have determined to steal, or to commit adultery, or to murder, it is not an advantage to find their purposes in all these matters fail and become abortive.
XXIV. Do thou, therefore, O my mind, avoid Adah, who bears witness to evil things, and who is borne witness to on each of its attempts at such things. And if you think fit to take her as a partner, she will bring forth to you the greatest possible evil, namely, Jubal,J the interpretation of which name is " changing;" for if you are delighted with any chance testi- mony, you will become desirous to upset and overturn every thing, changing the limits which have been affixed by nature to every thing. And Moses is very indignant with such people as these, and curses them, saying, " Cursed is he that reraoveth his neighbour's landmark."§ And what he means by one's neighbours, and that which is near to a man, is the good. " For it is not good," says he, " to depart to the heaven, nor * Genesis xxxix. 3. + Genesis xi. 6.
J Genesis iv. 20. § Deuteronomy xxvii. 17.
ON THE POSTERITY OF CAIN. 305 to go beyond the sea," * in the search after what is good; for that stands near to, and close by, each individual.
And he divides the good by a threefold division, speaking most strictly in accordance with natural philosophy. " For it is," says he, " in thy mouth, and in thy heart, and in thy hands; " that is to say, in thy words, and in thy intentions, and in thy actions; for these are the component parts of the good, of which it is naturally compounded. So that the want of one portion does not only make the whole incomplete, but does entirely destroy it; for of what use is it to say what is excellent, but to think and to do what is most shameful? This is the way of the sophists. For those who make long speeches about prudence and perseverance, annoy the ears even of those who are very fond of hearing good conversation; and yet, in their designs and in the actions of their lives they are found to err. And what is the use of entertaining such sentiments as are proper, but acting and speaking most improperly, and injuring by your actions all who are exposed to the effect of them? Again, it is blameworthy even to do what is right, with out any intention or reason; for what is done without these is a portion of involuntary conduct, and is on no account, and under no circumstances to be praised; but if it were to happen that, as in the case of a lyre, so all the sounds of the good could be adapted to any man, and that we could make the conversation agree with the intention, and the intention with the action; then such a man would be considered perfect and really well constituted. So that he who removes the land marks of the good is justly accursed, and is justly spoken of as such.
XXV. But it is not our creation that has established these boundaries, but reasons, which are older than we, or than any thing upon the earth; and which, moreover, are divine. In accordance with which the law also has de- clared the same thing, charging every one of us not to adul- terate the coinage of virtue, in these words, " Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark which thy fathers esta- blished, "t And in another passage he says, " Ask thy father, and he will tell thee; ask thy elders, and they will make it known to thee, how the Most High, when he divided the nations, dispersed the sons of Adam, and fixed the bounda- * Deuteronomv xxx. 155. t Deuteronomy six. 14.
306 PHILO JUDjEUS.
ries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And the portion of the Lord was his people Jacob, the limitation of the inheritance of Israel."* Shall I then inquire of the father who begat me and brought me up, or of those who are his contemporaries, but older than I am? or has God divided the nations, or sown them, or settled them in the land? and will they answer me accurately how this was done, as if they had been present at every divi- sion? Surely not. For they will say, We also in our youth were fond of inquiring of our parents and of those who were lder than we, and learnt nothing certain; for they had nothing to tell us, and they again professed themselves pupils of those who knew, since they themselves were ignorant.
XXVI. Perhaps, therefore, it is the right reason of our souls that he calls their father, and its companions and friends that he calls elders. These are they who first established the boundaries of virtue, to whom it is worth while to become pupils for the sake of learning and instruction in necessary things. And what is necessary is as follows. When God was dividing and drawing a wall between the nations of the soul, separating those who spoke different languages; and when establishing the sons of the earth in their abodes, he dispersed them and removed to a distance from himself those whom he called the sons of Adam; then he fixed the boundaries of the offspring of virtue, making them equal in number to the angels; for as many angels of God as there are, so many nations and species of virtue are there.
What, then, are the portions of his angels, and what is that share which is the inheritance of the ruler and governor of all? The portion of those ministers are the specific virtues; but the portion of the ruler of all is his chosen people Israel. For he who sees God, being led on by his most surpassing beauty, has his inheritance and portion assigned to him in that which he sees. How, then, can we do any thing but blame Jubal, whose name being interpreted into the Greek language, means one who (fisraWoiuv ri (uramiSiv) changes or alters the natures of things? For those most divine beauties of prudence, and fortitude, and justice, and other virtues, he did change for the opposite impressions of folly, and intemperance, and injustice, and all wickedness, effacing all the impressions which had previously been stamped upon the natures of things. * Deuteronomy xxxii. 7.
ON THE POSTERITY OF CAIN. 307 XXVII. For it is always the case that if a second impres- sion is stamped upon any thing, the mark of any previous one is effaced. But the impression which is thus made is so far from permitting evil things to be taken in exchange for what is good, that it does not allow even what is beautiful to be taken in exchange for what is laborious; but looking upon what is laborious (toi/jjcov) as evil, since it would be downright folly not to discard what is bad for the sake of the acquisition of what is better, but only taking (irovrigbg) to be equivalent to iitiirovog or xafiarrigbs, in which sense, indeed, the Attic writers use the word when they mark the first syllable with an acute, thus, vovrigo;.
Now the precept is of this kind, "Of every thing which passeth under the rod, the tenth is sacred to the Lord; thou shalt not exchange good for bad, and if thou dost exchange, both the thing itself and that for which it is exchanged shall be sacred,"* and yet how can that which is evil possibly be sacred? The truth is that, as I said, he means here what is laborious, not what is bad; so that what is really intended is something of this kind: — The honourable is a perfect good, but labour is an imperfect advantage, if therefore you acquire what is perfect, you need no longer seek what is deficient; but if with an excessive superfluity you choose still to continue labouring, then know that you will appear to be exchanging one thing for another, but in reality you will be acquiring both, for even if both are of equal value they nevertheless are not completely whole.
XXVIII. But a thing which is sacred is proved to be so by three witnesses, the middle number, education, and perfect number. On which account it is said, " Of everything which cometh in the number under the rod, the tenth is sacred," for that which is not accounted worthy of being comprehended under number is profane, not sacred; but that which is ac- cording to number is approved, as having been already tested. Accordingly the law says, that the corn which was collected in Egypt by Joseph could not be counted,"! and adds, "for it was without number," since the things which nourish the body and the Egyptian passions, are utterlv unworthy to be included in any calculation.
» Leviticus ixvii. 32. f Genesis xli. 49.
308 PHILO JUD.EUS.
But the rod is the symbol of education, for without being looked at sternly, and chastised for some causes, it is impos- sible for any one to be admonished and corrected to any good purpose; but the number ten is a confirmation of that per- fection which takes place in accordance with improvement, with which he must begin who having brought forth an offspring educated it, ana brought the wished-for fruit to maturity.
XXIX. Thus much it may be sufficient to say concerning him who changes and adulterates the ancient coinage, whom Moses also calls the father " of those that dwell in the tents of those who fed cattle." Now by cattle here he means the irrational and outward senses, and by those who feed cattle he means the worshippers of pleasure and indulgences of the passions, who supply these senses with their external objects by way of food, and are a long way removed from shep- herds. For some, like rulers, chastise those of their flocks who are unruly: but others, like entertainers or masters of a feast, supply them with unlimited food, and give them fear- lessness as to the consequences of their sins; for it follows of necessity that such men are at once victims of insatiable appetite, and of insolence, the daughter of satiety; accord- ingly, he who re-fashions and changes all honourable things in a seemly and natural manner, is the father of those who pursue every object of the outward sense, and all other inani- mate objects; for if he had pursued the incorporeal natures which are accessible only to the intellect, he would have pre- served those boundaries marked out by his elders, which they established as a defence to virtue, stamping each appearance of virtue with its own appropriate image.* XXX. And Jacob's brother, he says, was Jubal,f and the interpretation of this latter name is " inclining," being sym- bolically speech according to utterance; for this is naturally the brother of intellect; and it is with extraordinary propriety that he called the conversation of that intellect which changes affairs, " inclining," for it agrees after a fashion and har- monizes with both, as the equivalent weight does in a scale, or as a vessel which is tossed by the sea inclines first to one side and then to the other, from the violence of the waves; for the foolish man has not learnt how to say anything firm or stable.
* Deuteronomy xxvii. 2. f Genesis iv. 21.
ON THE POSTERITY OF CAIN. 009 But Moses does not think it right to incline either to the right or to the left, or in short to any part of the earthly Edom; but rather to proceed along the middle way, which he with great propriety calls the royal road,* for since God is the first and only God of the universe, so also the road to him, as being the king's road, is very properly denominated royal; and this royal road you must consider to be philosophy, not that philosophy which the existing sophistical crowd of men pursues (for they, studying the art of words in opposition to truth, have called crafty wickedness, wisdom, assigning a divine name to wicked action), but that which the ancient company of those men who practised virtue studied, rejecting the persuasive juggleries of pleasure, and adopting a virtuous and austere study of the honourable — this royal road, which we have stated to be true and genuine philosophy, the law calls the word and reason of God; for it is written, " Thou shalt not turn aside from the word which I command thee this day, to the right hand nor to the left," So that it is shown most manifestly that the word of God is identical with the royal road, since Moses' words are not to depart either from the royal road, or from this word, as if the two were synonymous, but to proceed with an upright mind along the middle and lovel road, which leads one aright.
XXXI. " Now this Jubal," says Moses, " is the father who showed men the use of the psaltery and of the harp."+ He in the strictest consistency with nature calls distinctly rttered language the father of music and of all the instruments used in music; for nature, having given the organ of voice to animals as the first and most perfect of organs, afterwards gave to this organ all the harmonies, and all the different kinds of melodies, in order that it might be a previously made model for those organs which are hereafter to be made by art. And as he made an ear spherical, fashioning lesser circles in their greater ones and framing it as in a lathe, with the object of preventing the sounds of the voice which come from without from being wasted and dissipated, so that the voice when col- lected together and closely packed within the circle might, by a sort of diffusion of the power of hearing, be poured over the different channels of the principal part. And this immediately served as a model for those theatres which are found in hand- * Numbers xx. 17. t Genesis iv. 21.
some cities; so that the shape of a theatre is skilfully dictated by the mechanism of the ear.
So also, nature, which formed animals, stretching the rough " artery like a musical canon, and wearing beneath the harmonic and chromatic and diatonic kinds of sounds, according to the innumerable variations of combined and separated melodies, made a model in accordance with which every musical instru- ment might be made.
XXXII. Perhaps, at all events, flutes and lyres, and similar instruments which utter melodies, are as far inferior to the music of nightingales or swans as a thing made after a model, and an imitation must be from the archetypal model, or a perishable species from an imperishable genus; for it is not fitting to compare the music of man with that of any other animal, since it has an especial privilege with which it is honoured, namely, articulate distinctness of speaking; for all other animals, having a broken utterance in their voice, by this and by an incessant change of tones alone give pleasure to our ears. But man, being furnished by nature with the means not only of speaking but also of singing articulately, charms both the sense of hearing and the mind, soothing the one with his song and influencing the other with ideas; for, as an instru- ment, if it be given into the hands of a man who has no skill as a musician, is inharmonious, but if given to a musician it becomes harmonious according to the skill that is in him. So in the same manner speech, when put in motion by a worthless mind, is inharmonious; but, when it is put in motion by a virtuous mind, it is found to be very melodious. A lyre, indeed, or any similar instrument, if it be not struck by some one, is silent; and speech, too, if it be not struck by the principal part, that is to say, the mind, is of necessity tranquil. And, again, as musical instruments are transposed and adapted to an infinite number of mixtures of airs, so also speech corre- sponds to them, becoming an interpreter of things; for who would converse in a similar manner with parents and children, being by nature the slave of the one, and by birth the master of the others? And who, again, would talk in the same manner to brothers or cousins; or, in short, to near and to distant relations? Who, again, could do so to friends and to stran- gers, to fellow citizens and to foreigners, though there may be no great difference in point of fortune, or nature, or age be- ON THE POSTERITY OF CAIN. 3] \ tweea them? For one must behave differently while asso- ciating with an old man and with a young one; and, again, with a man of high reputation and a humble man, with a servant and a master; and, again, with a woman and a man, and with an illiterate and a clever man. And why need one cite an incredible variety of persons to whom speech varies itself, so as at one time to assume one character and at another time another? For it would not interpret great things and small, numerous things and rare, private and public matters, sacred and profane affairs, or old and new events in the same manner; but would use, in each case, language appropriate to the number, or importance, or magnitude of the affairs under discussion; at one time elevating itself to a lofty style, and at another time, on the contrary, confining and humbling itself.
But as circumstances and persons give varieties to speech, so also do the causes of things and the manner in which they are done; and, moreover, those points especially with which everything is concerned, namely, time and place. Very beautifully, therefore, is he who inclines voices, namely Jubal, called " the father of the psaltery and of the harp," from a portion of the whole science of music, as has been shown already.
XXXIII. The descendants, therefore, of Adah, and what she herself is, have now been explained. Let us consider next the other wife of Lamech, Zillah, and what she brings forth. Zillah, then, being interpreted, means " shadow," a sym- bol of the qualities of the body and of the external good things, which, in their real essence, are in no way better than a shadow. Is not beauty a shadow, which, after it has flou- rished for a brief time, withers away? And are not strength and activity of body shadows, which any chance disease can destroy? And the organs of the external senses, and the accuracy of their use, which any sudden cold may obstruct, or old age, that inevitable and common disease of all men, may impair, are not they shadows? And, again, are not riches and glory, and authority and honours, and all the external circum- stances which are accounted goods, are not they, I say, all shadows? But one ought to lead the mind, as if by the steps of a flight of stairs, up to the origin of everything.
Men in the rank of those who are considered illustrious have gone to Delphi, who have consecrated their happy lives to the 31'2 PHILO JUD.EUS.
service of that place, and like writings which have become effaced, not only in consequence of the lapse of ages but also by the vicissitudes which time brings about, they have then expired.
* There are some again whom the impetuosity of an overflowing torrent, as it were, has suddenly extinguished and carried away. From all these shadows, then, and all these un- substantial dreams a son is born, whom his parents called Tubal (this name being interpreted means "all"). For they with great wisdom laying it down (instead of those things which are accounted good things by the multitude) that competency com- bined with good health is happiness, consider that in that is united everything great or small, in short everything. But if there were any such thing as an absolutely independent autho- rity added, then becoming full of arrogant domination, and elated with vanity and false opinions, forgetting themselves and the contemptible material of which they are composed, they look upon themselves as composed of a more valuable material than the composition of man admits of; and becoming swollen with pride, they think themselves worthy of even divine honours. At all events, before now some persons have ventured to say, that they " do not know the true God,"f forgetting their own human nature, by reason of the immoderate excess of corporeal and external things and each imagining...,.+ XXXIV. Then Moses says, " He was a hammer-beater and forger of brass and iron: " § for the soul of that man who is intent on corporeal pleasures or external things is beaten by a hammer, like a piece of iron on an anvil, being drawn out according to the long and thin-drawn extensions of the appe- tites. Accordingly, you may see men fond of their bodies at every time, and in every place laying lines and nets to catch those objects that they desire; and others, who are lovers of money or covetous of glory, letting loose their desire and eager- ness for those things to the furthest boundaries of earth and sea, and dragging in from all quarters by their unlimited desires, as if by so many nets, whatever can gratify them, till the excessive tension, being broken by its great violence, drags back those who v There is an hiatus in the text in this sentence. I have followed Mangey's Latin translation. + Exodus v. 2.
J Another hiatus occurs here. § Genesis iv. 22, wherehe is called Tubalcain.
ON THE POSTERITY OF CAIN. 313 are dragging at it, and throws them down headlong All these men are causes of war, on account of which they are said to be workers in brass and iron, by means of which metals wars are carried on. For if any one contemplates the history of the greatest public or private quarrels that have arisen among men and among cities, he will not be wrong if...* he looks upon all of them, whether upon those which took place long ago, or upon those which are now raging, or on all that will ever arise hereafter, as being caused either by the beauty of a woman, or by a love of money, or, in short, by some desire for the excessive indulgence of the body, and for some superfluity of external things: but no foreign war and no civil war has ever existed for the sake of instruction or virtue, which are the good things of the mind, which is the best part of us; for these things are in their nature peaceful, and by them good laws and tranquil stability, and whatever else is most beautiful to the sharp-seeing eyes of the soul, not to the dim perceptions of the body, are seen to be established.
For the perceptive powers of the body look only upon the external surface, but the eye of the mind penetrates within, and going deep down surveys all the interior and hidden things which are removed out of the reach of bodily sight. And nearly all the troubles, and confusions, and enmities which arise among men, are about absolutely nothing, but about what is really a shadow: for Moses called Tubal the son of Zillah, that is to say of shadow, the maker of the warlike instruments of brass and iron, speaking philosophically, and being guided not by verbal technicalities, but by the exceeding propriety of the names; for he knew that every naval and every land expedition chooses to encounter the greatest dangers for the sake of bodily pleasures, or with a view to obtain a superfluity of external good things, of which nothing is firm or solid, as is testified by the history of time, which brings all things to proof: for they are like superficial sketches, being in themselves perishable and of no duration.