* Exodus ii. 16.
+ This passage is very corrupt in the original. I have followed Mangey in adopting the corrections of Marsland.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 2CI which the divine word is the leader, as hi3 name shows, for it signifies the pastoral care of God.
XX. But while he is taking care of his own flock, all kinds of good things are given all at once to those of the sheep who are obedient, and who do not resist his will; and in the Psalms we find a song in these words, " The Lord is my shepherd, therefore shall I lack nothing;"* therefore the mind which has had the royal shepherd, the divine word, for its instructor, will very naturally ask of his seven daughters, •« Why is it that you have contended with such great haste to come hither this day?"f for formerly, when you met with the objects of the outward sense, remaining a long time outside, you were a long time in returning again by reason of the manner in which you were allured by them, but now I do not know what it is that has happened to you, but you are speedy in your return, contrary to your usual custom.
Therefore they will say that there were not the same causes why they should run back with such exceeding speed, making the double course from the objects of the outward sense and to the objects of the outward sense, without stopping to take breath, and with excessive impetuosity; but that the cause was rather the man who delivered them from the shepherds of the wild flock.
And they call Moses an Egyptian, a man who was not only a Hebrew, but even a Hebrew of the very purest race, of the only tribe which is consecrated, because they are unable to rise above their own nature; for the outward senses, being on the confines between the objects of the intellect and those of the outward senses, we must be content if they aim at both of them, and are not allured by the objects of the outward sense alone. And to think that they are inclined only to attend to the things which are purely objects of the intellect is great folly; on which account they give him both these names, since when they call him a man, they indicate the things which are within the province of reason alone to contemplate, and when they call him an Egyptian, they indicate the objects of the external senses.
When he has heard this, he will again inquire, " Where is the man?" In what part of you is the reasonable species dwelling? Why have you left it so easily, and have not rather * Fsalm xxiii. 1. t Exodus ii. "18.
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after having once met with it, preserved that which was the most beautiful of possessions, and the most advantageous for yourselves? But even if you have not done so before, at least call it to you now, that it may eat of and be supported by your improvement and your close connection with him; for perhaps he will even dwell with you, and will bring with him the winged, and divinely inspired, and prophetical race by name Zipporah.
XXI. Thus much we have thought fit to say on this subject. But, moreover, Moses also changes the name of Hosea into that of Joshua; displaying by his new name the distinctive qualities of his character; for the name Hosea is interpreted, "what sort of a person is this?" but Joshua means, " the salvation of the Lord," being the name of the most excellent possible character; for the habits are better with respect to those persons who are of such and such qualities from being influenced by them: as, for instance, music is better in a musician, physic in a physician, and each art of a distinctive quality in each artist, regarded both in its perpetuity, and in its power, and in its unerring perfection with regard to the objects of its speculation. For a habit is something everlasting, ener- gising, and perfect; but a man of such and such a quality is mortal, the object of action, and imperfect. And what is impe- rishable is superior to what is mortal, the efficient cause is better than that which is the object of action; and what is perfect is preferable to what is imperfect. In this way the coinage of the above mentioned description was changed and received the stamp of a better kind of appearance.
And Caleb himself was changed wholly and entirely; " For," as the scripture says, "a new spirit was in him;"* as if the dominant part in him had been changed into complete perfec- tion; for the name Caleb, being interpreted, means, " the whole heart." And a proof of this is to be gathered from the fact that the mind is changed, not by being biassed and inclining in one particular direction or the other, but wholly and entirely in the direction which is good; and that, even if there is any thing which is not very praiseworthy indeed, it makes that to depart by arguments conducive to repentance; for, having in this manner washed off all the defilements which * Numbers xiv. 24.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 263 polluted it, and having availed itself of the haths and purifica- tions of wisdom, it must inevitably look brilliant.
XXLL. But it happens to the arch-prophet to have many names: for when he interprets and explains the oracles which are delivered by God, he is called Moses; and when he prays for and blesses the people, he is called the man of God; * and when Egypt is paying the penalty of its impious actions, he is then denominated the god of him who is king of the country, namely, of Pharaoh.f And why is all this? Because to alter a code of laws for the advantage of those who are to use them is the part of a man who is always handling divine things, and having them in his hands; and who is called a lawgiver by the all-knowing God, and who has received from him a great gift — the interpretation of the sacred laws, and the spirit of pro- phecy in accordance with them. For the name Moses, being translated, signifies " gain," and it also means handling, for the reasons which I have already enumerated. But to pray and to bless are not the duties of any ordinary man, but they belong to one who has not admitted any connection with created things, but who has devoted himself to God, the governor and the father of all men. And any one must be content to whom it has been allowed to use the privilege of blessing. And to be able also to procure good for others belongs to a greater and more perfect soul, and is the profession of one who is really inspired by God, which he who has attained to may reasonably be called God.
But, also, this same person is God, inasmuch as he is wise, and as on this account he rules over every foolish person, even if such foolish person be established and strengthened by a haughty sceptre, and be ever so proud on this account; for the Puiler of the universe, even though some persons are about to be punished for intolerable acts of wickedness, nevertheless is willing to admit some intercessors to mediate on their behalf, who, in imitation of the merciful power of the father, exercise their power of punishment with more moderation and humanity; but to do good is the peculiar attribute of God.
XXIII. Having now discussed at sufficient length the sub- ject of the change and alteration of names, we will turn to the matters which come next in order in our proposed examination. Immediately after the events which we have just mentioned, * Deuteronomy xxxiii. 1. t Exodus vii. 1.
264 PHILO JUMUS.
264 PHILO JUMUS.
came the birth of Isaac; for after God had given to his mother the name of Sarrah instead of Sarah, he said to Abraham, " I will give unto thee a son."* We must consider each of the things here indicated particularly. Now he who is properly said to give any thing whatever must by all means be giving what is his own private property. And if this is true beyond controversy, then it would follow that Isaac must not have been a man, but a being synonymous with that most exquisite joy of all pleasures, namely, laughter, the adopted son of God, who gave him as a soother and cheerer to the most peace-loving souls; for it is absurd to suppose that there was one who was a man, and another of whom bastard and illegitimate offspring were descended: and, indeed, Moses calls the man of an intellect devoted to virtue a god, when he says, " The Lord, seeing that Leah was hated, opened her womb."f For having felt com- passion and pity for virtue as being hated by the race of man- kind, and for the soul which Joves virtue, he makes the nature which loves beauty barren, but opens the fountain of fecundity and gives it a prosperous labour.
But Tamar, when she became pregnant of divine seeds, and did not know who it was who had sown them (for it is said that at that time she " had covered her face," as Moses did when he turned away, having a reverential fear of beholding God), still when she saw the tokens and the evidences and decided within herself that it was not a mortal man who gave these things, cried out, " To whomsoever these things belong, it is by him that I am with child. "J Whose was the ring, or the pledge, or the seal of the whole, or the archetypal appearance, according to which all the things, though devoid of species and of distinctive quality, were all stamped and marked? And whose again was the armlet, or the ornament; that is to say, destiny, the link and analogy of all things which have an indissoluble connection? Whose, again, was the staff, the thing of strong support, which wavers not, which is not moved; that is to say, admonition, correction, instruction? Whose is the sceptre, the kkigly power? does it not belong to God alone? Therefore, the disposition inclined to confession, that is to say, Judah, being pleased at her possessed and inspired condition, speaks freely, saying, " She has spoken justly, • Genesis xvii. 16. f Genesis xxix. 31. £ Genesis xxxviii. 25.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 2G5 because I gave her in marriage to no mortal man; "* thinking it an impious thing to pollute divine with profane things.
XXIV. And wisdom, which, after the fashion of a mother, has conceived and brought forth the self-taught race, points out that it is God who is the sower of it; for, after the offspring is brought forth, she speaks magnificently, saying, " The Lord has caused me laughter;" f an expression equivalent to, he has fashioned, he has made, he has begotten Isaac, since Isaac is the same with laughter. But it does not belong to every one to hear this sound, since the evil of superstition is very widely spread among us, and has overwhelmed many unmanly and ignoble souls; on which account she adds, " For whoever hears this will not rejoice with me." As if those persons were very few whose ears are opened and pricked up so as to be inclined to the reception of these sacred words, which teach that it is the peculiar employment of the only God to sow and to beget what is good; to which words all other persons are deaf.
And I know that this illustrious oracle was formerly delivered from the mouth of the prophet, "Thy fruit has been found from me: who is wise and will understand these things? who is prudent and will know them?"j But I have observed, and comprehended, and admired him who causes to resound, and who himself, invisible as he is, does in an invisible manner strike the organ of the voice; being amazed also at the same time at what was uttered. For if there be any good thing among existing things, that, or I should rather say the whole heaven and the whole world, if one must tell the truth, is the fruit of God; being preserved upon his eternal and ever- flourishing nature as upon a tree. But it belongs to wise and understanding men to understand and to confess such things as these, and not to the ignorant.
XXV. We have now then explained what is meant by the words, " I will give unto thee." We must now explain the words, " out of her." Some now have understood them as meaning that which exists out of her, thinking that it has been most correctly decided by right reason that the soul never dis- plays any peculiar beauty of its own, but only such as comes to it from without, in accordance with the greatness of the good will of God who showers his graces upon it. But others * Genesis xxxviii. 2G. f Genesis xxi. H. J; Hosea xiv 9.
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understand these words to mean instant rapidity; for that the words (eg avT7j$, which we have translated) "out of her," are here equivalent to, " at once, immediately, without any d without hesitation.". And it is in this way that the "gifts ol God usually come to men, outstripping the differences of time.
There is a third class of persons who say, that virtue is the mother of all created good, without having received the seed of it from any mortal man; and to those who ask, whether she who is barren has an offspring (for the holy scriptures, whicb some time ago represented Sarrah as barren, now confess that she will become a mother); this answer must be given, that a woman who is barren cannot, in the course of nature, bring forth an offspring, just as a blind man cannot see, nor a deal man hear; but that the soul, which is barren of bad things, and which is unproductive of immoderate license of the passions and vices, is alone very nearly attaining to a happy delivery, bringing forward objects worthy of love, namely, the number seven, according to the hymnwiiich is sung by Grace, that is, by Hannah, who says, " she who was barren hath borne seven, and she who had many children has become weak:"* and what she means by, " She who had many chil dren," is the mind, which being pregnant of mixed and pro- miscuous reasonings, from all quarters confused together, by reason of the multitudes which crowd around her, and of the disorder which they cause, brings forth incurable evils; and by " she who was barren," she means that mind which had never received any mortal seed, as if it were productive of off- spring, but has avoided and shunned all association and all connection with the wicked, and clings to the seventh, and to the most peaceful numbers in accordance with it, for it deserves to be pregnant of it, and to be called its mother.
XXVI. This then is the meaning of the words, " out of her." We must now consider the third point, namely, what that is which is called her son. In the first place, then, there is this worthy of our admiration, that God does not say that he will give her many children, but that he will give her one only. And why is this? Because it is the nature of what is good to be investigated, not so much with respect to its number or magnitude, as with respect to its power; for musical precepts, to take them for an instance, or rules of * 1 Samuel ii 5.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 2C7 grammar, or of geometry, or of justice, or of wisdom, or of manly courage, or of temperance, are very numerous indeed; but the science itself of- music, or grammar, or geometry, and still more the virtue of justice, or temperance, or wisdom, or manly courage, is only one thing, the loftiest perfection, in no respect differing from the archetypal model, after which all those numerous and countless precepts were formed.
And this is why he only says that he will give her one son. And now he has called it a son, not speaking carelessly or in- considerately, but for the sake of showing that it is not a foreign, nor a supposititious, nor an adopted, nor an illegiti- mate child, but a legitimate child, a proper citizen, inasmuch as a foreign child cannot be the offspring of a truly citizen soul, for the Greek word rsxvov (son), is derived from roxog (bringing forth), by way of showing the kindred by which chil- dren are, by nature, united to their parents.
XXVII. And, says God, " I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations;"* because, not only is generic virtue di- vided into its proximate species, and into individuals subordi- nate to the species, as if into nations; but also because, as there are nations of living animals, so in a manner are there nations of things, to which virtue is a very great advan- tage; for all things which are devoid and destitute of wisdom are mischievous, just as all places upon which the sun does not shine are of necessity dark; for it is by virtue that a farmer is able to pay better attention to his crops, and by vir- tue that a charioteer drives his chariot in the horse-races so as to avoid falling; and by virtue too, that a pilot and a steers- man guides his vessel in its voyage. Virtue again has caused houses, and cities, and countries to be inhabited in a better manner, making men competent to manage houses and cities, and lit to associate with one another. Virtue also has intro- duced most excellent laws, and has sown the seeds of peace everywhere; since, from the contrary habit, things of a con- trary character do naturally arise — war, lawlessness, bad con- stitutions, confusion, unsuccessful voyages, overthrows, that which, in science, is the most grievous of all diseases, namely, ••nmiing, from which, instead of art, all kinds of evil artifice 1 as flowed. Very necessarily, therefore, will virtue be divided among all nations, which are large and collected systems of * Genesis xvii. 16.
208 PIIILO JUD^US living beings and things taken together, for the advantage of those who receive her.
XXVIII. Immediately afterwards it is said, " And kings of the nations shall be born of her." For those with whom she is pregnant and whom she brings forth are all rulers; not because they have been elected as such for a short period by lot, which is an uncertain thing, or by the show of hands of men who are for the most part bribed, but because they have been destined and appointed so for everlasting by nature herself. And these are not my words only, but those of the most holy scriptures, in which certain persons are introduced as saying to Abraham, " Thou art a king from God among us;"* not out of consideration for his resources (for what resources could a man have who was an emigrant and who had no city to inhabit, but who was wandering over a great extent of impassable country?), but because they saw that he had a royal disposition in his mind, so that they confessed, in the words of Moses, that he was the only wise king.
For in real truth the wise man is the king of those who are foolish, since he knows what he ought and what he ought not to do; and the temperate man is the king of the intemperate, as he has attained to no careless or inaccurate knowledge of what relates to choice and avoidance. Also the brave man is king over the cowardly, inasmuch as he has thoroughly learnt what he ought to endure and what he ought not. So too the just man is king of the unjust, as he is possessed of the know- ledge of undeviating equality as to what is to be distributed. And the holy man is king over the unholy, as he is possessed with the most just and excellent notions of God.
XXIX. It was natural then for the mind, being puffed up by these promises, to be elated and raised to an undue height in its own estimation; and accordingly, by way of producing conviction in us, who were accustomed to hold up our heads at the slightest trifles, " it falls down and immediately laughs the laughter of the soul," looking mournful as to its face, but smiling in its mind a great and unmixed joy having entered into it: and both these feelings, namely, to laugh and also to fall, do at the same time occur to a wise man who inherits good things beyond his expectation; the one being his fate, as a proof that he is not over-proud because of his thorough * Genesis xxiii. 6.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 269 knowledge of his mortal nothingness; and the other, by way of a confirmation of his piety on account of his looking upon God as the sole cause of all graces and of all good things.
Let, then, the creature fall down and wear a melancholy countenance very naturally; for it has no stability in its own nature, and as far as that goes is easily dissolved; but let it be raised up again by God, and laugh, for he alone is the sup- port and joy of it.
And here any one may reasonably express a doubt how it is possible for any one to laugh when laughter had not as yet come among one branch of the creation; for Isaac is laughter, who, according to the account under our consideration at present, was not yet born. For just as it is impossible to see without eyes, or to hear without ears, or to smell without nos- trils, or to exert any other of the external senses without the organs adapted to each respectively, or to comprehend without the reason, so also it is not likely that a person can have laughed, if laughter had not as yet been made. What, then, are we to say? Nature foreshows many of the things which are hereafter to happen by certain symbols. Do you not see how the young bird, before it commits itself to the air, is fond of fluttering its wings and shaking its pinions, giving a previous happy indication of its hope that it will be able to fly? And have you never seen a lamb, or a kid, or an ox, while still young, and before his horns are as yet grown and noticed, if by chance any one irritates him, how he opposes him, and moves forward to defend himself with those parts in which nature has planted his arms for defence? And in the battles which take place with wild beasts, the bulls do not at once gore the adversaries who are opposed to them, but stand- ing well apart, and relaxing their neck in a moderate degree and bending their heads on one side, and looking fierce, as it were, they then, after a truce, rush on with the determination of persevering in the contest. And this sort of conduct those who are in the habit of inventing new words call "sparring," being a sort of sham attack before the real one.
XXX. And the soul is subject to many things of much the same kind. For when something good is hoped for it rejoices beforehand, so that in a manner it rejoices before its joy, and is delighted before its delight. And one may also compare this to what happens with respect to plants; for they, too, 870 PHILO JUD^US.
when they are about to bear fruit, bud beforehand and flowei previously, and are green previously.
Look at the cultivated vine, how marvellously it is furnished by nature with young shoots, and tendrils, and suckers, and leaves redolent of wine, which, though they utter no voice, do nevertheless indicate the joy of the tree at the coming fruit. And the day also laughs in anticipation of the early dawn, when the sun is about to rise; for one ray is a messenger of another, and one beam of light, as the forerunner of another though more obscure, is still a herald of that which shall be brighter.
Therefore, joy accompanies a good when it is already arrived, and hope while it is expected. For we rejoice when it is come, and we hope while it is coming; just as is the case also with the contrary feelings; for the presence of evil brings us grief, and the expectation of evil generates fear, and fear is nothing more than grief before grief, as hope is joy before joy. For the same relation that, I imagine, fear bears to grief, that same does hope bear to joy. And the external senses afford very manifest proofs of what has now been said; for smell, sitting as it were in front of taste, pronounces judgment beforehand on almost every thing which is eaten and drunk; from which fact some persons have very felicitously named it the foretaster, having a regard to its employment. And so hope is by nature adapted to have as it were a foretaste of the coming good: and to represent it to the soul, which is to have a firm possession of it.
Moreover, when any one who is engaged in a journey is hungry or thirsty, if he on a sudden sees a fountain or all kinds of trees weighed down with eatable fruits, he is at once filled with a hope of enjoyment, not only before he has either eaten or drunk, but before he has either come near them or gathered of them. And do we then think that we are able to feast on the nourishment of the body before we receive it, but that the food of the mind is not able to render us cheerful beforehand, even when we are on the very point of feasting on it?
XXXI. He laughed then very naturally, even though laughter did not as yet appear to have been scattered among the human race: and not only did he laugh but the woman also laughed; for it is said presently, "And Sarrah laughed in ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 271 elf, saying, There has never up to the present time come any good unto me of its own accord without care on my part; but he who has promised is my Lord, and is older than all creation, and him I must of necessity believe." And at the same time it also teaches us that virtue is naturally a thing to be rejoiced at, and that he who possesses it is at all times rejoiced; and, on the contrary, that vice is a painful thing, and that he who possesses that is most miserable.
And do we even now marvel at those philosophers who affirm that virtue consists in apathy? For, behold, Moses is found to be the leader of this wise doctrine, as he represents the good man as rejoicing and laughing. And in other pas- sages he not only speaks of him in that way, but also of all those who come to the same place with him; for he says, " And , when he seeth thee, he will rejoice in himself;"* as if the bare sight of a good man were by itself sufficient to fill the mind with cheerfulness while the soul would cast off its most fearful burden, sorrow.
But it is not allowed to every wicked man to rejoice, as it is said in the predictions of the prophet, " There is no rejoicing for the wicked, says God."f For this is truly a divine saying and oracle, that the life of every wicked man is melancholy, and sad, and full of unhappiness, even if with his face he pre- tends to feel happiness; for I should not say that the Egyp- tians rejoiced in reality when they heard that the brethren of Joseph were come, but that they only feigned joy, putting on a false appearance like hypocrites; for no convict.or, when stand- ing by and pressing upon a foolish man is a pleasure to him, just as no physician is to an intemperate man who is sick; for labour attends on what is useful, and laziness on what is hurt- ful. And those who prefer laziness to labour are very naturally hated by those who advise them to a course which will be use- ful and laborious.
When, therefore, you hear that " Pharaoh and all his servants rejoiced on account of the arrival of Joseph's brethren," J do not think that they rejoiced in reality, unless perhaps in this sense, that they expected that he would become changed from the good things of the soul in which he had been brought up, and would come over to the profitless appe- Exodua iv. 14. f Isaioh xlviii. 22. J Genesis xlv. 1C.
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tites. of the body, having adulterated the ancient and hereditary coinage of that virtue which was akin to him.