II. Therefore the account which follows will show these characteristics more accurately. But we must return to the heads of the question which we have already set forth, and begin with those who flee under the influence of hatred. "For," says the scripture, "Jacob concealed his purpose from Laban the Syrian, so as not to tell him that he was fleeing, and he fled, be and all that he had."* What then was the cause of his hatred? For perhaps you are desirous to hear this.
There are some persons who make to themselves gods of substance destitute of all distinctive quality, and species, and shape, neither knowing the cause which puts things in motion, nor showing any anxiety to learn of those who do know, but * Genesis xvi. 8.
100 PIIILO JUD-EUS.
being contented with their ignorance and want of understanding of the most important kind of learning, which was in fact the first and only thing of which it was absolutely necessary to labour for the understanding. Laban now is one of this kind of persons; for the sacred scriptures attribute to him a ilock devoid of all distinctive marks. And matter, without any distinctive characteristics, is without any marks in the universe, and so is in men the soul, which is destitute of learning and which has no instructors. But there are others who belong to a better portion, who say that the mind has come and arranged everything, bringing the disorder which arose from an ochlo- cracy among all existing things, into the order established by the legitimate authority of kingly power. Of this company Jacob is a follower, who presides over the marked and party- coloured flock.
On the other hand the species in the universe is distin- guished by marks and is of varied colour, and so also in men is the mind which has been well instructed and which is fond of learning. And he who is marked, and who is the companion of true kingly power, having received a great deal of the social affection from nature, goes to him who has no distinguishing marks, and who, as I have said, makes himself gods of the material powers, and who thinks that besides them there is no effectual cause of anything, to teach him that his opinions are not correct. For the world has been created, and has by all means derived its existence from some extraneous cause. But the word itself of the Creator is the seal by which each of existing things is invested with form. In accordance with which fact perfect species also does from the very beginning follow things when created, as being an impression and image of the perfect word. For the animal when first created is imperfect as to quantity; and a proof of this is the gradual growth which takes place at each successive age. But it is perfect as to quality. For the same quality remains in it, as having been stamped upon it by the divine word which abides permanently and never charges.
III. But seeing that he is dumb with respect to learning and to all desirable and legitimate authority, he very naturallv thinks of flight. For he is afraid that in addition to not being able to derive any advantage, he may even be injured. For all Connections with the foolish injures us, and very often the soul ON FUGITIVE?.. 197 ON FUGITIVE?.. 197 against its will becomes stamped with the impression of their insanity of mind. And, in truth, instruction is naturally a thing inimical to ignorance, and so is industry to indifference. In reference to which fact the powers devoted to practice and meditation, when they are set free, cry out, giving a full account of the causes of their hatred: " Have we not any longer a share and an inheritance in the house of our father? Are we not now accounted aliens by him? For he has sold us, and he has eaten up and devoured our money. All the wealth and all the glory which God took from our father shall belong to us and to our children." * For those who are free both in name and also in their minds do not consider any foolish person as either rich or glorious, but look upon all such persons, so to say, as inglorious and poor, even if they exceed the fortune of wealthy kings. For they do not say that they will have the riches of their father, but the riches which have been taken awray; nor do they say that they shall possess his glory, but the glory which has been taken away from him.
But the wicked man is deprived of all genuine riches and of all true and honourable glory; for these blessings are procured by wisdom, and temperance, and the kindred dispo- sitions of the soul, and are inherited by those souls which love virtue. Therefore, it is not the things which belong to the wicked man, but those of which he is destitute, that are the abundance and the glory of the good. And he is destitute of virtues which are their possession, in order that what is said ii another place may be consistent with the passage already pioted: " Let us sacrifice the abominations of Egypt to the Lord our God."| For the virtues are perfect and blameless offer- rigs, and so are the actions in accordance with virtue, which he Egyptian body, being devoted to the passions, abominates; or, as in this passage, those things which, according to the irinciples of natural philosophy, are reckoned profane among he Egyptians are called sacred by the Israelites who see icutely, and are all offered as sacrifices; so, in the same nanner, the man who is the companion of virtue will be the leir of those things of which every foolish man is deprived and lestitute. And these things are true glory, which in fact differs in no * Genesis xxxi. 11. f Exodus viii. 26.
198 PIITLO JUD^EUS.
respect from knowledge, and wealth, not blind wealth, but that which is the most sharp-sighted of all existing things, which never receives any base money, not even anything what- ever devoid of life unless it be thoroughly tried and approved. Very naturally, therefore, that person will flee from him who has no participation in divine blessings, who even in the mat- ters in which he accuses another does without perceiving it accuse himself also, when he says, " If thou hadst told me I would have sent thee away."* For this very thing was a worthy cause for your being deserted, if you, being the servant of an infinite number of masters, pretending to have been invested with command and authority, proclaimed liberty to others.
But I, says he, did not take a man as my assistant in the road which leads to virtue, but I listened to the divine oracles which enjoined me to depart from hence, and which even now continues to direct my course. And how would you have sent me away? surely, as you boast, using pompous language, with a joy which to me would have been sorrowful, with music which would have been no music, with dances, and noises des- titute of articulate sound and of reason, striking blows on the soul through the medium of the ears, and with the harp, and with sounds unsuited to the lyre, and unsuited to harmony, not being so much organs, as the actions of a whole life. But these are the things by reason of which I meditated flight; but you, as it seems, contemplated dragging me back from my flight, in order that I might return on account of the deceitful and seductive nature of the external senses, by which I was scarcely able to permit myself to be carried forward.
IV. Hatred then, was the cause of the flight which I have been here describing; but fear was the cause of the one which I am about to mention. For, says the sacred historian, Rebekkah said unto Jacob, " Behold, Esau thy brother threat- eneth to kill thee: now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and rise up, and flee to Laban my brother, to Charran, and dwell with him certain clays, until the anger of thy brother is turned away, and he forget what thou hast done unto him; and then I will send again, and fetch thee back from thence, "f For it was worth while to fear, lest the worse portion of the soul, lying in an ambuscade, or else moving forwards openly to the attack, might overthrow and cast down the better part; and sc * Genesis xuxi. 27. t Genesis xxvii. 42.
ON FUGITIVES. 199 the counsel of the right-minded perseverance, Rebekkah, was very good.
But she says, when you see the bad man coming in with great impetuosity, against virtue, and making great account of those things which it is more proper to disregard, such as wealth, glory, and pleasure, and praising the performance of actions of injustice, as being the cause of all the advantages before mentioned: for we see that those who act unjustly, are, for the most part, men possessed of much silver, and of much gold, and of high reputation. Do not then, turn away to the opposite road, and devote yourself to a life of penury, and abasement, and austerity, and solitude; for, by so doing, you will irritate your adversary, and arm a more bitter enemy against yourself. Consider, therefore, now by what conduct you may avoid his attacks; apply yourself to the same things, I do not mean the same pursuits, but to the same things which are the efficient causes of those things which have been men- tioned; to honours, to offices of authority, to silver, to gold, to possessions, to money, to colours, to forms, to exceeding nicety; and when you meet with such things, then, like a skilful workman, impress the most beautiful appearance on the material substances: and perfect a most excellent work. Do you not know, that if a man unacquainted with navigation, takes the management of a ship, which might otherwise have reached the harbour in safety, he overturns it? but that a man, skilful as a pilot, has often saved a ship which otherwise must have been lost? And also, some sick persons, owing to the unskilfulness of their medical attendants, have been severely afflicted with disease; while others, through the skill of their doctors, have escaped from dangerous sicknesses? And why ueed I have been prolix on this point; for always the things which are done with skill, are a conviction of those which are done unskilfully; and the true praise of the one is an unerring accusation of the other.
V. If therefore, you wish to convict a wicked man, who is also possessed of great wealth, do not disdain an abundance of money; for the unhappy man will soon show himself in his true colours, either as an illiberal and slavish-minded skin-flint, and parer of people by usury, or else as a profligate and intem- perate spendthrift, very ready to devour and to squander, and a most zealous companion of harlots and brothel-keepers, 200 miLO JUDJEUB.
and pimps, and of every kind of profligate company. But you will rather bestow your contributions on those who are in want of friends, and will do favours to, and bestow your liberality on, your country, and will assist to portion out the daughters of needy parents, giving them, in addition to their inheritance, a most sufficient dowry; and in fact, very nearly throwing all your own property into the common stock, you will invite to a participation in it all who are worthy of favour.
And, in the same manner, when you wish to reprove any- wicked man who is mad with a high opinion of himself and full of boasting, while you are able yourself to attain to dis- tinguished honours, do not disdainfully reject the praise of the multitude: for by so doing you will trip up and supplant the miserable man who takes long strides, and who gives himself airs. For he will abuse his own renown for the purpose of behaving with insolence and contumely to others who are better than he, promoting those who are worse, so as to set them above them; while you, on the contrary, will give all worthy persons a share in your renown, giving in this manner security to those who are good, and by your admonitions improving those who are not so good. And if you ever go to a drinking party or to a costly entertainment, go with a good confidence; for you will put to shame the intemperate man by your own dexterity. For he, falling on his belly, and opening his insatiable desires even before he opens his mouth, will glut himself in a most shameless and indecorous manner, and will seize the things belonging to his neighbour, and will lick up everything without thinking.
And when he is completely sated with eating, then drinking, as the poets say, with his mouth open, he will make himself an object for the laughter and ridicule of all those who behold him. But do you adopt a moderate course without being com- pelled thereto, and if ever you are constrained to indulge your- self in things beyond moderation, still make reason the governor of the necessity, and never go so far as to change pleasure into unpleasantness, but, if we may speak in such a manner, be drunk in a sober manner.
VI. And here therefore truth may not unreasonably blame those who, without any examination, abandon the business and means of regulating a civil life, and who say that they have learnt to despise glory and pleasure; for those men are be- ON FUGITIVES. 201 ON FUGITIVES. 201 having insolently, and do not really despise these things, making an open boast of their sordid, and melancholy, and item appearance, and putting forth their austere and dirty iiwry of living as a bait, as if they were lovers of orderly be- Kiviour, and modesty, and endurance; but they are not able ;o deceive those who look into them with greater accuracy, and ,vho pierce within their disguise, and who are not led astray )y outward show; for having removed these veils and cover- ngs from the others, they see what is treasured up and con- •ealed within, and learn what kind of qualities and nature are heirs: and if they are good they admire them, and if they ire evil they ridicule them, and hate them because of their lypocrisy.
Let us then say to such persons, " Are ye zealous admirers md imitators of a life which hates mixing with and joining n the society of others, a solitary and uncompanionable life? ?or what specimen of virtue have you ever exhibited while iving in the society of others? Do ye disdain money? Have •ou, then, who have been professed money-dealers, been lesirous to act justly? Professing to disregard the pleasures >f the belly and of the parts beneath the belly, have you •eliavcd with moderation when you have had abundant oppor- unities of indulging these appetites? Do you despise glory? L'hen, when you have been placed in situations of authority, lave you cultivated an affable humility? Perhaps you have idiculed a participation in the affairs of state, not considering low useful an employment that is. Have you then first sxercised yourselves in, and directed your attention to, the mblic and the private business of life? and having become kilful politicians and experienced economists by means of the cindred virtues of economical and political science, have you, n your exceeding abundance of these things, prepared for •our migration to another and a better kind of life? For it is )roper to go through a practical life before beginning the heoretical one: as being a sort of rehearsal of the more )erfect contest and exhibition.
In this way it is possible to escape from the charge of hesi- ation and indolence. Thus also an express injunction is given o the Levites to fulfil their works till the time that they are il'tv years of age; and after they are released from all active nimstrations, to consider and contemplate each particular 202 THILO JUDJEU3.
thing, receiving as a reward for their well-doing in active life, another life which delights only in knowledge and contem- plation. And at other times it is necessary that those who think themselves worthy to claim the just things of God. should first of all fullil their human duties; for it is great folly to expect to attain to what is of greater importance, while one is unable properly to discharge what is of less consequence. First of all, therefore, be ye known for your virtue among men, that you may also become established by that which relates to God." This is the advice which perseverance gives to the man inclined to the practice of virtue; but we must now examine her several expressions with accuracy.
VII. "Behold," says she, "Esau thy brother threatens thee." But is it not natural for that disposition, hard as oak and obstinate through ignorance, by name Esau, who offers the baits of mortal life to lead you to your destruction; such baits, I mean, as wealth, glory, pleasure, aud other kindred tempta- tions, to seek to kill thee? But do you, 0 my child! flee from this contest at present, for you have not as yet had complete strength for it given to you, but still the nerves of your soul, like those of a child, are somewhat soft and wr3ak. And it is for this reason that she calls him " my child," which is a name of affection, and also one which indicates his tender age; for we look upon the disposition which is inclined to the practice of virtue, and which is young, as worthy of affection in comparison of the full-grown man.
But such a person is worthy to carry off the prizes which are proposed for children, but he is not yet able to win the prizes offered for the men. But the best contest for men to engage in is the service of the only God. Therefore if, even before we have been completely purified, but while we appear only to have proceeded so far as to wash off the things which defile our life, we have arrived at the vestibule of God's service, we departed again more quickly than we approached, not being able to endure the austere way of living dictated by that service, nor the sleepless desire to please God, nor the con- tinual and unwearied labour; flee, therefore, at this present time from what is best and from what is worst. What is worst are the fabulous inventions, the unmetrical and inharmonious poems, the conceptions and persuasions which from ignorance are hard and stubborn, of which Esau is the namesake. What ON FUGITIVES. 203 ON FUGITIVES. 203 is best is the offering; for the race inclined to service is an offering meet for God, being consecrated to him alone in the great chief priesthood; for to dwell with what is evil is most pernicious, and to dwell with perfect good is most dangerous. Accordingly Jacob both flees from Esau, and also dwells apart from his parents; for being fond of practising virtue and ;8till labouring at it, be flees from wickedness, and yet is un- able to live in company with perfect virtue so as to have no need of an instructor.
VIII. On which account we read, " He will depart to Liiban," not to him as the Syrian, but as the brother of his mother; that is to say, he will go to the brilliancies of life; i for Laban, being interpreted, means " white.'' And when he i has arrived there he will not hold his head too high, from being puffed up with the happy events of fortune; for the word I Syrian, being translated, means " sublime." But now he does ', not recollect the Syrian Laban, but the brother of Rebekkah; i for the means of life being given to a bad man, inflate and I raise up to a great height the mind which is devoid of wisdom, which is called the Syrian; but if they are bestowed on a lover iof instruction, then they make the mind inclined to abide by \ the steady and solid doctrines of virtue and excellence. This is i the brother of Rebekkah, that is to say, of perseverance, and I he dwells in Charran, which name, being interpreted, means i " holes," a symbol of the external senses; for he who is still j moving about in mortal life has need of the organs of the ex- I ternal senses. " Dwell, therefore," says she, " 0 my child, with him," not all thy life, but " certain days;" that is to say, learn I to be acquainted with the country of the external senses; know thyself and thy own parts, and what each is, and for what end i it was made, and how it is by nature calculated to energise, (and who it is who moves those marvellous things, and pulls the strings, being himself invisible, in an invisible manner, whether it is the mind that is in thee, or the mind of the universe.
And when you have become thoroughly acquainted with yourself, then examine accurately also the peculiar qualities of Laban; the things which are accounted brilliant instances of the success of empty glory; but do not you be deceived bv anv one of them, but like a good workman adapt them all in a skilful manner to your own necessities; for if, while immersed 204 nilLO JUDJEUS.
iii this political and much confused life, you display a stable and well-instructed disposition, I will send for you from thence that you may receive the same prize which also your parents received: and the prize is the unchangeable and unhesitating service of the only wise God.
IX. And his father also gives him similar precepts, adding a few trifling injunctions; for he sn}-s, " Rise up and flee into Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, the father of thy mother, and from thence take a wife to thyself of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother."* Again, he also forbears to speak of Laban as a Syrian, but he calls him llehekkah's brother, who is about to form a connection with the practiser of virtue by means of intermarriage.
Flee, therefore, into Mesopotamia, that is to say, into the middle of the rapid torrent of life, and take care not to be washed away and swollowed up by its whirlpools, but standing firmly, vigorously repel the violent, impetuous course of affairs which overflows and rushes upon thee from above, from both sides, and from every quarter; for you will find the house of wisdom a calm and secure haven, which will gladly receive you when you are anchored within it.
But Bethuel in the sacred scriptures is called wisdom; and this name, being translated, means " the daughter of God;" and the legitimate daughter, always a virgin, having received a nature which shall never be touched or defiled, both on account of her own orderly decency, and also because of the high dignity of her Father. And he calls Bethuel the father of Rebekkah. How, then, can the daughter of God, namely, wisdom', be properly called a father? is it because the name indeed of wisdom is feminine but the sex masculine? For indeed all the virtues bear the names of women, but have the powers and actions of most full-grown men, since whatever is subsequent to God, even if it be the most ancient of all other things, still has only the second place when compared with that omnipotent Being, and appears not so much mascu- line as feminine, in accordance with its likeness to the other creatures; for as the male always has the precedence, the female falls short, and is inferior in rank.
We say, therefore, without paying any attention to the difference here existing in the names, that wisdom, the * Genesis xxviii. 2.
ON FUGITIVES. 205 daughter of good, is both male and a father, and that it is that which sows the seed of, and which begets learning in, souls, and also education, and knowledge, and prudence, all honour- able and praiseworthy things. And from this source it is that Jacob, the practiser of wisdom, seeks to procure a wife for himself; for from what other quarter should he seek a partner rather than from the house of wisdom? and where else should he find an opinion free from all reproach, with which to live all his life?...* X. But Moses has spoken more accurately about flights when he was establishing the law with respect to homicides, in which he goes through every species of homicide, that of intentional murder, that of unintentional slaying, that of murder by deliberate attack, or by crafty treachery. Repeat the law: " If any man strike another and he die, the striker shall die the death. And if a man do it not intentionally, but if God delivers him into his hand, then I will give thee a place to which he who has slain another shall flee. And if any one set upon his neighbour to slay him by treachery, and flee away, thou shalt drag him even from the altar to put him to death. "t Knowing very well that the law is here adding no superfluous word from any indescribable impetuosity in its description of the matter, I doubted within myself why it does not merely say that he who has slain another shall die, and why it has added, that he shall die the death; for how else does any one die, who dies at all, except dying the death?
Therefore, betaking myself for instruction to a wise woman, whose name is Consideration, I was released from my difficulty, for she taught me that some persons who are living are dead, and that some who are dead still live: she pronounced that the wicked, even if they arrive at the latest period of old age, are only dead, inasmuch as they are deprived of life according to virtue; but that the good, even if they are separated from all union with the body, live for ever, inasmuch as they have received an immortal portion.
XI. Moreover, she confirmed this opinion of hers by the sacred scriptures, one of which ran in this form: " You who cleave unto the Lord your God are all alive to this day: " J for she saw that those who sought refuge with God and became * The rest of this chapter is lost.
+ Exodus xxi. 12. £ Deuteronomy iv. 4.
Q06 PHILO JUDJEUS.
his suppliants, were the only living persons, and that all others were dead. And Moses, it seems, testifies to the immortality of those persons, when he adds, " You are all alive to this day;" and this day is interminable eternity, from which there is no departure; for the periods of months, and years, and, in short, all. the divisions of time, are only the inventions of men doing honour to number. But the unerring proper name of eternity is " to-day; " for the sun is always the same, without ever changing, going at one time beneath the earth, and at another time above the earth, and by him it is that day and night, the measures of time, are distinguished.