them, whether mortal or divine; and he regulates the nature of the heaven, and the periodical revolutions of the sun and moon, and the variations and harmonious movements of the other stars, ruling them according to law and justice; ap- pointing, as their immediate superintendent, his own right reason, his first-born son, who is to receive the charge of this sacred, company, as the lieutenant of the great king; for it is said somewhere, "Behold, I am he! I will send my mes- senger before thy face, who shall keep thee in the road."* Let therefore all the world, the greatest and most perfect flock of the living God, say, " The Lord is my shepherd, and he shall cause me to lack nothing," and let every separate individual say the same thing; not with the voice which proceeds from his tongue and his mouth, extending only through a scanty portion of the air, but with the wide spreading voice of the mind, which reaches to the very extremities of this universe; for it is impossible that there should be a deficiency of anything that is necessary, where God presides, who is in the habit of bestowing good things in all fulness and completeness in all living beings.
XIII. But there is a very beautiful encouragement to equality contained in the song before mentioned; for in real truth, the man who appears to have everything else, and yet who is impatient under the authority of one master, is in- complete in his happiness, and is poor; but if a soul is governed by God, having that one and only thing on which all other things depend, it is very naturally in no need of other things, regarding not blind riches, but only such as are endowed with real and acute sightf All true diwciples have come to conceive an earnest and unalterable love for that; and therefore laughing at the mere keeping of sheep, they have directed their attention to the attainment of a shepherd's knowledge; and a proof of this is to be found in the case of Joseph, who was always studying that knowledge which is conversant about the body and vain opinions, not being able to rule and govern irrational nature (for it is customary for old * Exodus xxiii. 20.
f I have again followed Mangey. The text has ov rv<p\bv nXovrov flXeirovaa, to. 8k (cat o<p68pa o^vdtpKovaa mat Oavfia^ovaa, which he pronounces corrupt and unintelligible, and translates as if were pXiirovra 8k em o<j>68pa 6£v8t(>KovvTa 6avpa£ov<ja.
PHILO JUDjEUS.
PHILO JUDjEUS.
nen to be appointed to offices of irresponsible authority; but this man is always young, even if after a lapse of time he may come to support old age, which has at last reached him); and being accustomed to nourish this and to lead it on to growth, he expects to be able to persuade the lovers of virtue to change and come over to him, in order that in so changing to irrational and inanimate objects, they may have no leisure for applying themselves to the studies of a rational soul.
For Moses represents Joseph as saying, " If the king," that is to say, the mind, the king of the body, " shall ask you, What is your occupation? answer, We are men, the keepers of cattle."* When they hear this they are naturally impatient, not liking the idea, while they are rulers, of confessing that they hold the rank of subordinates; for those who supply food to the outward senses, through the abundance of the objects perceptible only by them, become the slaves of those who are nourished, like servants who pay to their mistresses a com- pulsory reverence every day; but those who preside over them are rulers, and they bridle the vehement impetuosity with which they are hurried on to luxury.
At first therefore, although they do not hear what is said with any pleasure, they will still keep silence, thinking it unseemly to discuss the difference between the employment of a keeper of cattle and a shepherd, before those who do not understand it; but subsequently, when a contest about these things arises, they will contend with all their power, and will never desist till they have carried their point by main force, having exhibited the liberality, and nobleness, and royal character of their nature to the living God. Accordingly Avhen the king asks, " What is your occupation?'' they will answer " We are shepherds, we and our fathers."
XIV. Would they not then appear to boast as much of their occupation as shepherds, as the king himself, who is conversing with them, does of his mighty power and domin ion? At least they are testifying their high opinion of the profession of life which they have adopted, not in honour of themselves alone, but of their father also, as being worthy of all possible care and diligence; and yet, if the discussion had been merely about the care of goats or sheep, perhaps they would have been ashamed to make such an admission through * Genesis xlvi. 33.
ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BY NOAH. 391 desire to avoid dishonour; for such occupations are accounted inglorious and mean among those who are loaded with great prosperity, without being at the same time endowed with prudence, and especially among kings. And the Egyptian character is by nature most especially haughty and boastful whenever so slight a breeze of prosperity does merely blow upon it, so that men of that nation look upon the pursuits of life and objects of ambition of ordinary men, as subjects for laughter and downright ridicule.
But since the matter before us, at present, is to consider the rational and irrational powers in the soul, those persons will naturally boast, who are persuaded that they are able to master the irrational faculties, by taking the rational ones for their allies. If therefore any envious or captious person should blame us, and say, " How then have ye, who are devoted to the employment of shepherds, and who profess to be occupied in the care and management of the flocks which belong to you, ever thought of approaching the country of the body and the passions, namely Egypt? and why have ye not turned your voyage in another direction? You must say to him in reply, with all freedom of speech, We have come hither as sojourn- ers, not as inhabitants.*1 For in reality every soul of a wise man has heaven for its country, and looks upon earth as a strange land, and considers the house of wisdom his own home; but the house of the body, a lodging-house, on which it pro- poses to sojourn for a while. Therefore since the mind, tha ruler of the flock, having taken the flock of the soul, using the law of nature as its teacher, governs it consistently and vigorously, rendering it worthy of approbation and great praise; but when it manages it sluggishly and indulgently, with a disregard of law, then it renders it blameable. Very naturally, therefore, the one will assume the name of a king, being addressed as a shepherd, but the other will only have the title of a confectioner, or of a baker, being called a keeper of sheep, supplying the means of feasting and gluttonous eating to cattle accustomed to gorge themselves to satiety.
XV. I have now therefore explained, in no superficial manner, in what way a husbandman differs from a tiller of the ground, and a shepherd from a keeper of sheep. There is also a third point, having some connection with what has already been said, which we will now proceed to speak of. For I consider 392 PHILO JUD^EUS.
that a horseman and a rider differ; meaning by this state- ment, not merely that one man who is carried on a neighing animal differs from another man who is carried on a similar beast, but the motion of the one is different from the motion of the other; therefore the man who gets on a horse without any skill in horsemanship, is correctly called a rider, and he has given himself up to an irrational and restive animal, to such a degree that it is absolutely inevitable that he must be carried wherever the animal chooses to go, and if he fails to see beforehand a chasm in the earth, or a deep pit, it has hap- pened before now that such a man, in consequence of the impetuosity of his course, has been thrown headlong down a precipice and dashed to pieces. But a horseman, on the other hand, when he is about to mount, takes the bridle in his hand, and then taking hold of the mane on the horse's neck, he leaps on; and though he appears to be carried by the horse, yet, if one must tell the truth, he in reality guides the animal that carries him, as a pilot guides a ship. For the pilot too, ap- pearing to be carried by the ship which he is managing, does in real truth guide it, and conducts it to whatever harbour he is himself desirous to hasten. While, therefore, the horse goes on in obedience to the rein, the horseman pats the horse, as if praising it; but when it goes on with too great impetuosity, and is carried away beyond moderation, then he pulls it back with force and vigour, so as to restrain its speed. But if the horse continue to be disobedient, then he takes the whole bridle, and pulls him back, and drags back his neck, so that he is compelled to stop. And for all his restiveness and his continued disregard of the rein, there are whips and spurs pre- pared, and all other instruments of punishment which have been invented by horse-breakers. And it is not wonderful: for when the horseman mounts, the art of horsemanship mounts too; so that there then being two parties borne by the horse, and skilful in horsemanship, they will very naturally get the better of one animal who is subjected to them, and who is incapable of acquiring skill.
XVI. Therefore now, leaving the consideration of these neighing animals, and of the parlies carried by them, investi- gate, if you will, the condition of your own soul. For in its several parts you will find both horses and a rider in the fashion of a charioteer, just as you do in external things.
ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BY NOAH. 393 Now, the horses are appetite and passion, the one being malo and the other female. On this account, the one giving itself airs, wishes to be unrestrained and free, and holds its head erect, as a male animal naturally does; and the other, not being free, but of a slavish disposition, and rejoicing in all kinds of crafty wickedness, devours the house, and destroys the house, for she is female. And the rider and charioteer is one, namely the mind. "When, indeed, he mounts with prudence, he is a charioteer; but when he does so with folly, then he is but a rider. For a fool, through ignorance, is unable to keep hold of the reins; but they, falling from his hands, drop on the ground. And the animals, immediately that they have got the better of the reins, run on in an ill-regulated and unrestrained course. But the man who has mounted behind them, not being able to take hold of anything by which he may steady himself, falls, and lacerating his knees aud his hands and his face, like a miserable man as he is, he bitterly weeps over his disaster; and after hanging by his feet to the chariot after he has been overturned, he is suspended, with his face upwards, lying on his back; and as the chariot proceeds, he is dragged along, and injured in his head, and neck, and both his shoulders; and then, being hurried on in this direction and in that, and being dashed against everything which lies in the way, he en- dures a most pitiable death.
He then meets with an end, such as I have been describing; and the chariot, being lightened by his fall and bounding along violently, when, at last, it is dashed to the ground in the rebound, is easily broken to pieces, so that it can never again be joined or fastened together. And the animals, being now released from everything which could restrain them, proceed at random, and are frantic, and do not cease galloping on, till they are tripped up and fall, or till they are hurried over some high precipice, and so are dashed to pieces and destroyed.
XVII. In this manner, then, it seems that the whole chariot of the soul is destroyed, with its passengers; aud all through the carelessness or unskilfulness of the driver. But it is desirable for them that such horses, and such drivers, and riders, so wholly without skill, should be destroyed, in order that the faculties of virtue may be roused; for when folly has fallen, it follows of necessity that wisdom must rise up. On this account Moses, in his passages of exhortation, says, " If 394 PHILO JUD.EUS.
394 PHILO JUD.EUS.
thou goest forth to battle against thy enemies, and if thou seest numbers of horses, and riders, and people, be not afraid, because the Lord thy God is with thee."* For we must neglect anger and desire, and, in short, all the passions, and indeed the whole company of reasonings, which are mounted upon each of the passions as upon horses, even if they believe that they can exert irresistible strength; at least, all those must do so who have the power of the great King holding a shield over them, and in every place, and at every time, fight- ing in their defence. But the divine army is the body of virtues, the champions of the souls that love God, whom it becomes, when they see the adversary defeated, to sing a most beautiful and becomiug hymn to the God who giveth the vic- tory and the glorious triumph; and two choruses, the one proceeding from the conclave of the men, and the other from the company of the women, will stand up and sing in alternate songs a melody responsive to one another's voices.
And the chorus of men will have Moses for their leader; and that of the women will be under the guidance of Miriam, "the purified outward sense." f For it is just that hymns and praises should be uttered in honour of God without any delay, both in accordance with the suggestions of the intellect and the perceptions of the outward senses, and that each in- strument should be struck in harmony, I mean those both of the mind and of the outward sense, in gratitude and honour to the holy Saviour. Accordingly, all the men sing the song on the sea-shore, not indeed with a blind mind, but seeing sharply, Moses being the leader of the song; and women sing, who are in good truth the most excellent of their sex, having been enrolled in the lists of the republic of virtue, Miriam being their leader.
XVIII. And the same hymn is sung by both the, choruses, having a most admirable burden of the song which is beautiful to be sung. And it is as follows: " Let us sing unto the Lord, for he has been glorified gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." J For no one, if he searches ever so eagerly, can ever discover a more excellent victory than that by which the most mighty army, four-footed, restive, and proud as it was, of the passions and vices was overthrown. For the vices are four in genus, and the passions likewise are * Deut. xx. 1. f Exodus xv. 20. J Exodus xv. 1.
ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BY NOAH. 395 equal in number. Moreover, the mmd, •which is the character of them all, the one which hates virtue and loves the passions, has fallen and perished — the mind, which delighted in pleasures and appetites, and deeds of injustice and wickedness, and likewise in acts of rapine and of covetousness.
Very beautifully, therefore, does the lawgiver in his recom- mendations, teach us not to elect as a chief, a man who is a breeder of horses, thinking that such a one is altogether unsuited to exercise authority, inasmuch as he is in a frenzy about pleasures and appetites, and intolerable loves, and rages about like an unbridled and unmanageable horse. For he speaks thus, " Thou shalt not be able to set over thyself a man that is a stranger, because he is not thy brother; because he will not multiply for himself his horses, and will not turn his people towards Egypt."* Therefore, according to the most holy Moses, no man that was a breeder of horses was ever born fit for dominion; and yet some one perhaps may say that power in cavalry is a great strength to the king, not inferior either to infantry or to a naval force, but in many places far more advantageous than either, and especially in those cases in which one has need of swiftness of motion with- out delay, but prompt and energetic, when the times do not admit of delay, but are at the very crisis of action, so that those who arrive too late are very naturally not considered to have been sluggish so much as to have been wholly useless, the opportunity for action having passed by like a cloud.
XIX. And we would say to these people: My good men, the lawgiver is removing no protection whatever from the ruler, nor is he in any respect mutilating the army of his power which he has collected, by cutting off the force of cavalry which is the most efficient part of his army; but he is endeavouring to the best of his power to increase and strengthen it, in order that his allies, contributing to its strength and number, may most easily destroy their enemies. For who else is equally skilful in marshalling and arraying armies, and in distributing them in squadrons, and in appoint- ing captains of regiments and leaders of squadrons, and other commanders of large and small bodies, and in displaying a knowledge of all the other suggestions of tactics and strategy, Deuteronomy xvii. 15.
396 PHILO JUD^EUS.
and in explaining the principles of the military art to those who will avail themselves of them skilfully, through the great superabundance of his knowledge of such matters? But the question is not now about his force of cavalry, which it is necessary to collect around the rulers for the destruction of their enemies and the protection of their friends; but con- cerning the irrational, and immoderate, and unmanageable im- petuosity of the soul, which it is desirable to check, lest it should turn all its people towards Egypt, the country of the body, and labour with all its might to render it devoted to pleasure and to the passions, rather than to the service of virtue and of God; since it follows inevitably that he who has acquired a body of cavalry for himself, must, as he said him- self, proceed on the road which leads to Egypt.
For when the wave rises high and dashes over each side of the soul (looking upon it as a ship), that is to say, over the mind and the outward sense, being lifted up by evident pas- sions and iniquities which blow fiercely upon it, so that the soul leans on one side and is nearly over-balanced; then, as is natural, the mind becoming water-logged, goes down, and the deep in which it is sunk and overwhelmed is the body, which is compared to Egypt.
XX. Beware, therefore, never to occupy yourself in this kind of horse-breeding, for they who pursue the other kind are themselves also blameable, for how can they not be? inasmuch as by them irrational animals are exceedingly humoured, and from their houses troops of well-fed horses continually go forth; while to the men who conduct them, not a person is found who ever gives the slightest contribution to relieve their wants, nor any present to increase their superfluities. But, never- theless, they err in a lighter degree; for these men who breed horses to contend for the prize, assert that by so doing they are adorning the sacred games and the assemblies, which are held in honour everywhere, and they affirm that they are the causes not only of pleasure to the spectators, and of that kind of delight which arises from beholding the spectacle, but that they also give them an inducement to study and practise praiseworthy pursuits. For they who attribute to animals a desire for victory, using, out of their love of honour and rivalry in excellence, a certain unceasing exhortation, and encourage- ment, and eagerness, enduring pleasant labours, will never ON THE TILLING OP TiiE EARTH BY NOAH. 397 desist from what is suitable and becoming to them, till they attain the end that they desire.
But these men seek pretexts to excuse themselves, while doing wrong, but those who do wrong without excuse are they, who would make the mind a rider, and mount him upon bis horse, though ignorant of the science of horsemanship, his horse being that four-footed vice and passion; but if after having been taught the art of managing a chariot, you devote greater pains and study to it, and think yourself at last com- petent and able to manage horses, mount, and take hold of the reins. For thus, even if they are restive, you will not, by being thrown out of the chariot, receive wounds difficult to be cured, and also afford a subject of ridicule to all the spectators who delight in mischief; nor, on the other hand, will you be over- whelmed by your enemies coming against you or running over you from behind, since by your own speed you will outstrip and leave behind those who are coming after you, and you will be able to afford to disregard those who are coming towards you, because of your skill in getting safely out of the way.
XXI. It is not unnaturally, therefore, that Moses, singing his song of triumph on the destruction of the riders, neverthe- less prays for complete safety for the horsemen; for these are able, putting their bridles into the mouths of the irrational powers, to check the impetuosity of their superabundant vio- lence. What then his prayer is must be told: he says, " Let Dan be a serpent in the way, sitting in the path, biting the heel of the horse; and the horseman shall fall backwards, awaiting the salvation of the Lord."* But we must explain what Is the enigmatical meaning which he conceals under this prayer, the name of Dan, being interpreted, means "judg- ment;" therefore he here likens that power of the soul which investigates, and accurately examines, and distinguishes be- tween, and, in some degree, decides on each part of the soul, to a dragon (and the dragon is an animal various in its move- ments, and exceedingly cunning, and ready to display its courage, and very powerful to repel those who begin acts of violence), but not to that friendly serpent, the counsellor of life, which is wont to be called Eve in his national language, but to the one made by Moses, of the material of brass, which, when those who had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, * Genesis xlix. 17.
898 PH1L0 JUDJiUS.
and who were at the point of death beheld, they are said to have lived and not to have died.
XXII. And these things thus expressed resemble visions and prodigies; I mean the account of one dragon uttering the voice of a man and pouring his sophistries into most innocent dispositions, and deceiving the woman with plausible arguments of persuasion; and of another becoming a cause of complete safety to those who looked upon it. But, in the allegorical explanations of these statements, all that bears a fabulous ap- pearance is got rid of in a moment, and the truth is discovered in a most evident manner.
The serpent, then, which appeared to the woman, that is to life depending on the outward senses and on the flesh, we pro- nounce to have been pleasure, crawling forward with an indirect motion, full of innumerable wiles, unable to raise itself up, ever cast down on the ground, creeping only upon the good things of the earth, seeking lurking places in the body, burying itself in each of the outward senses as in pits or caverns, a plotter against man, designing destruction to a being better than itself, eager to kill with its poisonous but painless bite. But the brazen serpent, made by Moses, we explain as being the disposition opposite to pleasure, namely, patient endurance, on which account it is that he is represented as having made it of brass, which is a very strong material. He, then, who with sound judgment contemplates the appearance of patient en- durance, even if he has been previously bitten by the allure- ments of pleasure, must inevitably live; for the one holds over his soul a death to be averted by no prayers, but self-restraint proffers him health and preservation of life; and temperance, which repels evils, is a remedy and perfect antidote for intem- perance. And every wise man looks upon what is good as dear to him, which is also altogether calculated to ensure his pre- servation.
So that when Moses prays that it may happen to Dan, either himself, to be that serpent (for the words may be understood in either sense), he means a serpent closely resembling the one which has been made by himself, but not like the one which appeared to Eve, for then the prayer is an entreaty for good things; therefore the character of patient endurance is good, and capable of receiving immortality, which is the perfect good. But the character of pleasure is evil, bringing in its ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BY NOAH. 399 train the greatest of all punishments, death. On which account Moses says, "Let Dan become a serpent," and that not in any other place rather than in the road. For the indulgences of intemperance and gluttony, and whatever other vices the im- moderate and insatiable pleasures, when completely filled with an abundance of all external things, produce and bring forth, do not allow the soul to proceed onwards by the plain and straight road, but compel it to fall into ravines and gulfs, until they utterly destroy it; but those practices which adhere to patience, and endurance, and moderation, and all other virtues, keep the soul in the straight road, leaving no stumbling block in the way, against which it can stumble and fall. Very na- turally, therefore, has Moses declared that temperance clings to the right way, because it is plain that the contrary habit, in- temperance, is always straying from the road.