XXXVI. Therefore the words of the law here admit, perhaps, of all these and even of still more excuses; but that no one of those who study evil cunning, through his in- genuity in devising excuses, may feel any confidence in their validity, we will proceed with the allegory, and say that, in the first place, the law does not only think it right for men to labour for the acquisition of good things, but also for the enjoyment of those which they have already acquired; and that it looks upon happiness as consisting in the exercise of perfect virtue, which makes life safe and complete. In the second place, that the question here is not about a house, or a vineyard, or a betrothed and espoused wife, in order that he may marry her as an accepted suitor, and that he who planted the vineyard may gather the fruit thereof and press it out, and then, drinking the unmixed wine, may be gladdened in his heart, and that the man who has built a house may dwell in it; but the question is rather about the faculties of the soul, to which the beginnings, and progress, and perfec- tion of all praiseworthy actions are owing. Now, the begin- nings have usually especial connection with a suitor; for as he who courts a wife is about to become her husband, since he is not so already, so in the same manner whoever, endued with a good disposition, hopes to marry that well-born and ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BY NOAH. 4 1 J pure maiden, education, courts her immediately. Progress has especial reference to the husbandman; for as it is an object of particular care to the planter to make his trees grow, so also is it to him, who is devoted to learning, that the speculations of wisdom should receive the greatest possible improvement. And perfection especially belongs to the building of a house when it is finished, but has not yet settled and become firm.
XXXVII. But in all these different circumstances, at the beginning, or in the progress, or at the end of any under- taking, it is alike becoming to men to live without con- tention, and not engage in the war of the sophists, which is always stirring up a quarrelsome confusion, which tends to the adulteration of the truth; since the truth is dear to peace, which is at variance with their interests. For if they come to this contest, being private individuals engaging in a struggle against men experienced in warfare, they will by all means be defeated; the one who is only beginning, because he is destitute of experience; the one who is in a state of progress, because he is still imperfect; and the one who is perfect, because he is not yet thoroughly practised in virtue. But just as it is necessary that plaster, after it has been applied to a wall, must become solid and acquire firmness, so also it is indispensable that the souls of those who have attained to perfection, must become strengthened, and be established on firmer foundations by continual study andinces- sant practice. And those who do not arrive at this point are by philosophers indeed called wise men, but it is without their own knowledge; for they say that it is impossible for them who have advanced as far as the perfection of wisdom, and who have now for the first time reached its summit to be aware of their own perfection; for they affirm that it is impossible for both these things to happen at the same time, namely the arrival at the desired goal, and the apprehension that one has arrived there; but they affirm that on the border between the two, there is ignorance, of such a sort, that it is not far removed from knowledge, but that it is very near to it, and close to its doors.
When a man has acquired this, and thoroughly com- prehends it, and is entirely acquainted with the powers of his adversaries, it will be his task to war against the com- 412 PHILO JVBJEUS.
pany of contentious sophists, for there is good hope that such a man may conquer; but he who is still impeded by the cloud of ignorance in front of him, and who is not yet able to pour forth the light of knowledge, may safely remain at home; that is to say, it is well for him not to enter into a contest with respect to those matters with which he is not thoroughly acquainted, but he had better rest and keep quiet.
But the man who is elevated by self-sufficiency, not being acquainted with the skill or power of his adversaries, will undoubtedly meet with disaster before he can do anything, and will endure the death of knowledge, which is a more grievous death than that which separates the soul from the body. And this ought to happen to those who allow them- selves to be deceived by the sophists; for when they are not able to find a solution for their sophisms, believing their fallacies as if they were true statements, they die as to the life of knowledge, suffering the same thing that they do who are cajoled by flatterers; for in the case of those men too, their soul, while in a healthy and genuine state, is driven off and overthrown by a friendship which is diseased in its very nature.
XXXVIII. We must therefore advise those who are beginning to learn not to go forth into such contests, for they have not sufficient knowledge; and we must counsel those who are making some progress to abstain from them, because they are not perfect; and those who have now for the first time just attained to perfection, we must urge to forbear, because in some degree their perfection has escaped their own notice. But of those who disregard our warnings, Moses says, " One man will inhabit his house, and another will obtain his vineyard, and another will marry a wife." And the meaning of this is something of this kind: the powers which have been enumerated, of careful beginning, and improvement, and perfection, will never fail altogether, but will at different times approach and unite themselves with different persons, and will not be always forming the same souls, but will change about, resembling seals; for seals, when they have stamped an impression on one piece of wax, without suffering any alteration themselves, though they impress on it a form which is derived from themselves, ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BY NOAH. 4 1 3 remain in the same condition as before; and if the piece of wax which has been stamped, be melted, and the impres- sion effaced, then another piece may be substituted in its place.
So that, my good friends, do not think, that when you yourselves perish, your powers perish with you; for they, being immortal, have, on account of their own glory, embraced ten thousand other persons before they came to you, who, they perceived, did not behave like you, out of an aversion to danger, shunning their society, but who rather came forward to meet them, and showed an eagerness to consult their safety. And if any one is a friend of virtue, let him pray that all good things may be implanted in him, and may appear in his soul, like some symmetrical propor- tion conducing to beauty in a statue or a picture, con- sidering that there are innumerable persons watching at hand, to whom nature will give all these things instead of giving them to him, namely, facility of learning, improvement, and perfection; but it is better that he should shine out rather than they, guarding safely the graces which have been bestowed on him by God; and that he himself should not, by carrying forward destruction, afford an easy prey to his unsparing enemies.
XXXIX. Are we then to say that there is but little use in a beginning to which a fortunate end does not set its seal? It has often indeed happened that even some who have attained to perfection have still been thought im- perfect, from appearing to have improved through their own earnestness alone, and not according to the will of God. And on this account, being exceedingly elated by their vain opinion, and elevated to a great height, they have fallen from a high position to the lowest depths, and so been destroyed. "For if," says Moses, "you have built a new house, you shall also erect a battlement on the house, and then shall commit no murder in your house if any one falls from it."* For the most grievous of all falls is for a man to stumble and fall from the honour due to God; crowning himself rather than God, and committing domestic murder. For he who does not duly honour the living God kills his own soul: so that the building of education which he has * Deuteronomy xxii. 8.
41-1 PHILO JUDJEUS.
41-1 PHILO JUDJEUS.
erected is of no advantage to him. But instruction has a nature which never grows old; on which account Mcses calls its house a new house, for all other things are graduallj destroyed by time. But instruction, in proportion as it advances towards perfection, is fresh and vigorous, looking blooming with an ever-flourishing appearance, and putting itself in motion with continual studies.
And in his hortatory admonitions Moses recommends that those who have received the most abundant possession oi good things should not look upon themselves as the causes of their acquisition, but should "remember God who gav«. them strength to acquire the power."* This then is the utmost limit of good fortune, and the other things are its- beginnings, so that those who forget the end cannot possibly derive any advantage from the acquisitions which they have made. And so the falls which these men endure are self- incurred, through their own self-sufficiency, because they could not endure to call the loving and all-accomplishing God the cause of their good things.
XL. There are also some people who, letting loose every cable of piety, hasten to make a speedy voyage, in the hope of anchoring in its harbours. And afterwards, when they are at no great distance off, but are just on the point of reaching the haven, on a sudden there comes a violent wind, blowing in their teeth and coming upon them closely, which drives back the vessel which was proceeding onwards in its straight course, in such a manner as to destroy a great many of the things which were of use to contribute to a fair voyage; no one then could blame those people for being still tossed about by the sea, for the slowness, which they have displayed in completing their voyage, has been uninten- tional on their part. Who then can be likened to them rather than he who prayed what is called the great prayer? " For if, " says Moses, " any one dies in his presence suddenly, then immediately the head of his vow shall be polluted and he shall be shaved;"t and then after saying a few more sentences he thus proceeds, "And the former days shall not be taken into the computation, because the head of his vow was polluted." Now by the two expressions * Deuteronomy viii. 18. t Numbers vi. 9.
ON THE TILLING OF THE EARTH BT NOAH. 415 suddenly and immediately, the involuntary character of the deviation of the soul is manifested.
For with reference to intentional sins there is need of time to consider where, and when, and how a thing is to be done. But unintentional sins are committed suddenly, without any consideration, and, if it be possible to say such a thing they strike upon the man without any time at all. For it is very difficult, as in the case of runners, for men, when they first begin to travel by the road which leads to piety, to keep their course straight onward without stumbling and without being out of breath; since there are innumerable hindrances to every human being, but above all things, that which is the one and only thing in the way of doing good, namely the abstaining from any inten- tional misdeeds, is of service also to keep off the incalculable number of voluntary sins; and, in the second place, even of those which are involuntary, they are but few which are committed, and they do not cling to a person for any very long time.
Very beautifully, therefore, has Moses said that the days of unintentional error do not come into the computation (aXoyos); not only because the error was one without calculation, but also because it is not possible to give an account (X0705) of involuntary offences. Therefore, it often happens, when we are asked the reason of such and such a thing, that we say that we do not know, and that we cannot tell, in that we were not present when they were done, and also that we were ignorant of their being done. It is, there- fore, a very rare thing when G-od gives to any one to keep his life in a steady course from the beginning to the end, without either stumbling or falling; but escaping both kinds of offences, unintentional as well as intentional, with great speed and owing to the celerity and impetuosity of one's motions.
These things then are here said about beginning and end, because of the instance of the just Noah, who, after he had acquired the first and elementary principles of the knowledge of husbandry, was unable to reach its furthest limits. For it is said that " he began to be a husbandman, " not that he arrived at the extreme end of complete knowledge: but what is said about his planting we will discuss subsequently.
41 PHILO JUD^U THE SECOND PAET OF THE TREATISE ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH.
I. Ik the former part of this treatise we have spoken of the art of husbandry as to its genus, dwelling on it at as great a length as the time admitted of; but in this book we will discuss the question of his cultivation of his vineyard with regard to the species as far as it is in our power. Eor Moses represents the just Noah not only as a husbandman, but also especially as occupied with the cultivation of vines, saying, " Noah began to be a husbandman of the earth; and he planted a vineyard." * And it is fitting that a man who was about to discuss the whole question of separate plants and manners of cultivation, should first of all acquire an accurate comprehension of the most perfect plants in the universe, and of the great planter and superintendent of them.
He then who is the greatest of all planters and the most perfect in art, is the Euler of the universe; and his plant is not one which comprises within itself only individual plants, but rather infinite numbers of them springing up like suckers from one root, namely, this world. For after the Creator of the world, reducing that substance, which was in its own nature destitute of order and regularity, into a state of order, and bringing it from a condition of confusion into a distinct system, began to fashion and shape it, he placed the earth and the water in the middle, and the plants of air and fire he drew up from their previously central position to a lofty eminence; and the aether he arranged all round, placing it as a boundary to and preservation of the things within, from which also it seems that the heaven t derives its name, causing the earth to be borne upon the water in such a way that it continues dry, which, however, there was reason to fear might be dissolved by water; and this great worker of marvels, moreover, united the air, which was exceedingly * Genesis ix. 20.
f Ovpavbc, "heaven;" as if derived from oooc or ovpog, "a bound- ary."
ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH. 417 cold by its own nature, to fire which is very hot; a most surprising miracle. For how can it be looked upon as any- thing but a prodigy, for that which would dissolve another thing, to be held together by that which it would dissolve: that is to say, for water to be held together by earth; and again, for that which is the hottest of all things to be placed upon that which is the coldest without its nature being de- stroyed, that is to say, for fire to be placed upon air? And these are the elements of this most perfect plant; but the very great and all productive plant is this world, of which the aforesaid branches are the main shoots.
II. "We must now therefore consider where God placed its foundations, and in fact, what foundation it?'as on which it is supported, as a statue is on a pedestal; certainly we cannot imagine that any body is left outside and wandering about, since G-od has worked up and arranged every imagi- nable material throughout the whole universe. For it was fitting that the most perfect and greatest of all works should be made by the greatest of all makers; and it would not have been the most perfect of works if it had not been filled up by perfect parts, so that this world consists of all earth, and all water, and all air, and all fire, not a single particle, no not the smallest imaginable atom, being omitted.
It follows therefore of necessity, that what is outside must either be a vacuum or nothing at all. If now it is a vacuum, than how can that which is full and solid, and the heaviest of all things, avoid being pressed down by its own weight, since there is no solid thing to hold it up? from which consideration it would appear to be something like a vision, since the mind is always seeking for some corpo- real foundation, such as everything which is moved, must of necessity have: and especially the world, inasmuch as it is the greatest of all bodies, and embraces a multitude of other bodies as its own appropriate parts.
If therefore any one wishes to escape from the difliculties of this question which present themselves in the different doubts thus raised, let him speak freely and say that there is nothing in any material of such power as to be able to sup- port this weight of the world. But it is the eternal law of the everlasting Grod which is the most supporting a^ E E 413 PHILO JUD^EUS, firm foundation of the universe. This it is which, being extended from the centre to the borders, and again from the extremities to the centre, runs through the whole un- subdued course of nature, collecting all the parts and bind- ing them firmly together; for the father who created them has made it the indissoluble bond of the universe. Very naturally and appropriately therefore, all earth will not be dissolved by all water, which the bosom of the earth con- tains, nor will fire be extinguished by air, nor again will air be burnt up by fire, since the divine law establishes itself as a boundary to all these elements, like a vowel among consonants, so that the universe may, as it were, be harmo- nious in concert with the music expressed by letters; per- suasion, by its own authority, putting an end to the threaten- ing conflicts of contrary natures.
III. Thus then the plant which bears all things was rooted, and when it was rooted was made strong. But of the particular plants, and those of smaller growth, some were moveable, so as to have their places changed; and some were made so as, without any such change, to stand steadily in the same place. Those then that are affected by motion, inducing change of place, which we call animals, are attached to the most important portions of the universe; the terres- trial animals to the earth, the animals which swim to the water, the winged animals to the air and those which can live in the flame to the fire (which last are said to be most evidently produced in Macedonia), and the stars are attached to the heaven. For those who have studied philosophy pro- nounce the stars also to be animals, being endowed with intellect and pervading the whole universe; some being planets, and moving by their own intrinsic nature; and others, that is the fixed stars, being borne along with the revolutions of the universe; so that they likewise appear to change their places. But those which are regulated accord- ing to a nature devoid of all sensation, which are peculiarly called plants, have no participation in that motion which in- volves a change of place.
IV". But the Creator made two different races on the earth and in the air. In the air, he made the winged animals capable of being perceived by the external senses, and other powers which can by no means be comprehended in any place ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH. 419 by the external senses; and this is the company of incorpo- real souls arranged in order, but not in the same classifications. For it is said that some are assigned to mortal bodies, and are again subjected to a change of place according to certain defined periodical revolutions; but that others which have received a more divinely prepared habitation, look down upon the region of the earth, and that in the highest place, near the other itself, the purest souls are placed, which those who have studied philosophy among the Greeks call heroes, but which Moses, by a felicitous appellation, entitles angels; souls which go as ambassadors and messengers of good from the ruler of all things to his subjects, and messen- gers also to the king respecting those things of which his subjects have heard. To the earth again he assigned two classes, terrestrial animals and plants, wishing that she should be at the same time their mother and their nurse. For, as in the case of woman and every animal of the female sex, foun- tains of milk spring up in them when they are about to bring forth, in order that they may supply the offspring that is born of them with necessary and suitable food; so in a similar manner God has assigned to the earth, which is the mother of all terrestrial animals, all the different species of plants, in order that the animals produced by the earth may have such food as is akin to them, and not alien from their natures.
And, indeed, God has caused plants to grow with their heads downwards, having fixed their heads in the deepest parts of the earth; and having drawn up the heads of the irrational animals from the earth, he has set them up high on long necks, putting their fore feet under their necks as a kind of foundation. But man has received a pre-eminently superior formation. For of all other animals God has bent the eyes downwards, so that they look upon the ground; but on the other hand, he has raised the eyes of man so that he may behold the heaven, being not a terrestrial but a celestial plant as the old proverb is.* * This is similar to what Ovid says — Pronaque dum spectant animalia csetera terrain, Os homini sublime dedit: coelumque tueri Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. Which may be translated — 420 PHILO JUDJEUS.
420 PHILO JUDJEUS.
V. But the others who say that our mind is a portion of the ethereal nature, have by this assertion attributed to man a kindred with the air; but the great Moses has not named the species of the rational soul by a title resembling that of any created being, but has pronounced it an image of the divine and invisible being, making it a coin as it were of sterling metal, stamped and impressed with the seal of God, the impression of which is the eternal word. For, says Moses, " God breathed into man's face the breath of life," * so that it follows of necessity, that he that received the breath must be fashioned after the model of him who sent it forth. On which account it is said too, that "Man was made after the image of God," t and not after the image of any created being. It follows, therefore, since the soul of man has been fashioned in accordance with the archetypalword of the great cause of all things, that his body also, having been raised up to the purest portion of the universe — the heaven, must extend its vision, in order that, by a comparison with what is visible, it may attain to an accurate compre- hension of what is invisible.
Since, therefore, it was impossible for any one to perceive the attraction of the mind to the living God, except for those persons alone who were drawn towards him (for that which each person suffers, he alone particularly knows), God has given us the eyes of the body (as an evident and visible image of the invisible eye), which are able to look up to the heaven; for when the eyes, composed of perishable material, have raised themselves to such a height, as to be able from the region of the earth to mount up to heaven which is removed at so great a distance from the earth, and to reach its utmost heights, how great a course in every direction must we suppose to be within the power of the eyes of the soul? which, being endowed with wings from their excessive desire to see the Living God clearly, reach up not only to the highest regions of the air, but even pass over the boundaries of the whole world, and hasten towards the Uncreate.
And while all other creatures from their birth With downcast eyes gaze on their kindred earth, He bids man walk erect, and scan the heaven, From whence he sprung, to which his hopes are given. * Genesis ii. 7. f Genesis L 27.
ABOUT THE PLANTING OF NOAH. 421 VI. On this account, those persons who are insatiable in their desire for wisdom and knowledge are said in the sacred oracles to be " called up." * For it is legitimate that those persons should be called up to the Deity who have been inspired by him. For it would be a terrible thing if whirl- winds and hurricanes have power to tear trees up by their roots, and to toss them in the air, and to carry off vessels of many tons' burden, though loaded with cargoes, as if they were the lightest things imaginable, out of the middle of the sea; and if even lakes and rivers are raised on high, when their streams actually leave the bosom of the earth, having been drawn up by the ardent and diversified eddies of the winds: and yet, if the mind, which is intrinsically light, cannot be raised up by the nature of the Divine Spirit, which is able to do everything and to subdue all things below, and cannot be elevated to an exceeding height; and especially the mind of the man who studies philosophy in a genuine manner. For he does not incline downwards to the things dear to the body and to the earth, from which he separates himself, and studies to alienate himself as far as possible; but he is borne upwards, being insatiably devoted to sublime, holy, magnificent, and happy natures.
Therefore, also, Moses will be summoned upwards, the steward and guardian of the sacred mysteries of the living God. For we read in the book of Leviticus, " He called Moses up to him." f Bezeleel also will be summoned up, being thought worthy of the same honours. For him, also, God calls up for the preparation of the sacred furniture and for the care of the sacred works. But he receives only the second honour of this summons, and the all- wise Moses shall have the first place assigned to him. For the former fashions shadows only, like painters do, in which it is not right to form any living thing. For the very name Bezeleel is interpreted to mean, " working in shadows." But Moses does not make shadows, but the task is assigned to him of forming the archetypal natures of things themselves. And in other places, also, the great Cause of all things is accus- tomed to reveal his secrets to some in a more conspicuous • Exodus xix. 20.
+ Exodus xxxi. 2 is the passage alluded to, and not any verse ui Leviticus.
422 PHTLO JUD.EUS.
and visible manner, as if in the pure light of the sun, ana to others more sparely, as though in the shade.