to delay, and indolence and indifference, full of earnestness and contention, and sweat, and care. For which reason " those who dig in this well say that they cannot find even water in it; " because the ends of science are not only hard to discover, but are even altogether undiscoverable; and it is owing to this that one man is more thoroughy skilled in gram- mar or in geometry than another, because of its being impossible to circumscribe, increase, and extend one within certain limits; for there is always more that is left behind than what comes to be learnt; and what is left watches for and catches the learner, so that even he who fancies that he has comprehended and mastered the very extremities of know- ledge would be considered but half perfect by another person who was his judge, and if he were before the tribunal of truth would appear to be only beginning knowledge; for life is short, as some one has said, but art is long; of which that man most thoroughly comprehends the magnitude, who sincerely and honestly plunges deeply into it, and who digs it out like a well. And such a man, when he is at the point of death, being now grey-headed and exceedingly old, it is said, wept, not that he feared death as being a coward, but out of a desire for instruc- tion, as feeling that he was now, for the first time, entering upon it when he was finally departing from life.
For the soul flourishes for the pursuit of knowledge when the prime vigour of the body is withering awTay from the lapse of time; therefore, before one has arrived at one's prime and vigour by reason of a more accurate comprehension of things, it is not difficult to be tripped up. But this accident is common to all people who are fond of learning, to whom new subjects of contemplation are continually rising up and striving after old ones, the soul itself producing many such subjects when it is not barren and unproductive. And nature, also, unexpectedly and spontaneously displaying a great num- ber to those who are gifted with acute and penetrating intellects. Therefore the well of knowledge is shown to be of this kind, having no boundary and no end.
We must now explain why it was called the well of the oath. Those matters which are doubted about are decided by an oath, and those which are uncertain are confirmed in the same manner, and so, too, those which w:ant certification receive it; from which facts this inference is drawn, that ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 295 there is no subject respecting which any one can make an affirmation with greater certainty than he can respecting the fact that the race of wisdom is without limitation and without end. It is well, therefore, to enrol one's self under the banners of one who discusses these matters without an oath; but he who is not very much inclined to assent to the assertions ot another will at least assent to them when he has made oath to their correctness. But let no one refuse to take an oath of this kind, well knowing that he will have his name inscribed on pillars among those who are faithful to their oaths.
III. However, enough of this. The next thing must be to consider why it is that as four wells had been dug by the servants of Abraham and Isaac, the fourth and last was called the well of the oath. May it not be that the sacred historian here desires to represent, in a figurative manner, that as in the universe there are four elements of which this world is composed, and as there are an equal number in ourselves, of which we have been fashioned before we were moulded into our human shape, three of them are capable of being compre- hended somehow or other, but the fourth is unintelligible to all who come forward as judges of it. Accordingly, we find that the four elements in the world are the earth, and the water, and the air, and the heaven, of which, even if some are difficult to find, they are still not classed in the utterly undiscoverable portion.
For that the earth, because it is a heavy, and indissoluble, and solid substance, is divided into mountains and champaign districts, and intersected by rivers and seas, so that some portion of it consists of islands, and some portions are con- tinent. And again, some of it has a shallow and some a deep soil; and some is rough, and rugged, and strong, and alto- gether barren; and some is smooth and delicate, and exceed- ingly fertile; and besides all these facts we know a great number of others relative to the earth.
And again, there is the water, which we know has many of the aforesaid qualities in common with the earth, and many also peculiar to itself; for some of it is sweet, and some brackish, and some is mixed up of various characteristics; and some is good to drink, and some is not drinkable; and, moreover, neither of these last qualities is invariable with respect to every creature, but there are some to which it is 296 PHILO JUD.EUS.
296 PHILO JUD.EUS.
the one and not the other, and vice versd. Again, some water is by nature cold, and other water naturally hot; for there is in all sorts of places an infinite number of springs pouring forth hot water, not on the land only but even in the sea: at all events, there have appeared before now veins pouring up warm water in the middle of the sea, which all the enormous efflux, of salt water in all the sea that encircles the world, pouring over them from all eternity, has never been able to extinguish, nor even in the least degree to diminish.
Again, we know that the air has an attractive nature, yield- ing to such bodies as surround it in an altitude of resistance, being the organ of life, and breath, and sight, and hearing, and all the rest of the external senses, admitting of rarifica- tion, and condensation, and motion, and tranquillity, and changes, and variations of every kind, by which it is altered and modified, and generating summers and winters, and the seasons of autumn and spring, by means of which the circle of the year is at last brought to a conclusion.
IV. All these things, then, we feel: but the heaven has a nature which is incomprehensible, and it has never conveyed to us any distinct indication by which we can understand its nature; for what can we say? that it is solid ice, as some persons have chosen to assert? or that it is the purest tire? or that it is a fifth body, moving in a circle having no partici- pation in any of the four elements? For what can we say? Has that most remote sphere of the fixed stars any density in an upward direction? or is it merely a superficies devoid of all depth, something like a plane figure? And what are the stars? Are they masses of earth full of fire? For some persons have said that they are hills, and valleys, and thickets, men who are worthy of a prison and a treadmill, or of any place where there are instruments proper for the punishmeut of impious persons; or are they, as some one has defined them, a continuous and dense harmony, the closely packed, indissoluble mass of aether?
Again, are they animated and intelligent? or are they destitute alike of mind and vitality? Have they their motions in consequence of any choice of their own? or merely because they are compulsory?
What, again, are we to say of the moon? Does she shor ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 297 us a light of her own, or a borrowed and illegitimate one, only reflected from the rays of the sun? or is neither of these things true, but has she something mixed, as it were, so as to be a sort of combination of her own light and of that which belongs to some other body? For all these things, and others like them, belonging to the fourth and most excellent of the bodies in the world, namely, the heaven, are uncertain and incomprehensible, and are spoken of in accordance with conjectures and guesses, and not with the solid, certain reasoning of truth, so that a person might venture to swear that no mortal man will ever be able to comprehend any one d( these matters clearly. At all events, the fourth and dry well was called the well of the oath on this account, because the search after the fourth element in the world, that is to say the heaven, is without any result, and is in every respect fruitless.
V. But let us now see in what manner that fourth element in us is by nature in such an especial and singular manner incomprehensible.
There are, then, four principal elements in us, the body, the external sense, the speech, and the mind. Now of these, three are not uncertain or unintelligible in every respect, but they contain some indication in themselves by which they are oninrehended. Now what is my meaning in this statement? We know already that the body is divisible into three parts, ind that it is capable of motion in six directions, inasmuch as 1 has three dimensions, in length, in depth, in breadth; and iwice as many motions, namely six, the upward motion, the lownward motion, that to the right, that to the left, the toward, and the backward motion. But, moreover, we are lot ignorant that it is the vessel of the soul; and we are also iware that it is subject to the changes of being young, of de- lving, of growing old, of dying, of undergoing dissolution. \nd with respect to the outward senses, we are not, so far as hat is concerned, utterly dull and mutilated, but we are able o say that that also is divided into five divisions, and that there .re appropriate organs for the development of each sense ormed by nature; for instance, the eyes for seeing, the ears or hearing, the nostrils for smelling, and the other organs for he exercise of the respective senses to which they are dapted, and also that we may call these outward senses leasengers of the mind which inform it of colours, and •298 PHILO JUD^US.
shapes, and sounds, and the peculiar differences of vapours, and flavours, and, in short, which describe to it all bodies, and all the distinctive qualities which exist in them.
They also may be looked upon as body-guards of the soul, informing it of all that they see or hear; and if anything injurious attacks it from without, they foresee it, and guard against it, so that it may not enter by chance and unawares, and so become the cause of irremediable disaster to their mistress.
Again, the voice does not entirely escape our compre- hension; but we know that one voice is shrill and another deep; that one is tuneful and harmonious, and another disso- nant and very unmusical; and again, one voice is more powerful, and another less so. And they differ also in ten thousand other particulars, in kind, in complexion, in distance, in combined and separate tension of the tones, in the sympho- nies of fourths, of fifths, and of the diapason. Moreover, there are some things which we know also with respect to that articulate voice which has been allotted to man alone of all animals, as, for instance, we know that it is emitted by the mind, that it receives its articulate distinctness in the mouth, that it is by the striking of the tongue that articulate utterance is impressed upon the tones of the voice, and which renders the uttered sound not only a bare, naked, useless noise, void of all characteristic, and that it discharges the office of a herald or interpreter towards the mind which suggests it.
VI. Now then is the fourth element which exists within us, the dominant mind, comprehensible to us in the same manner as these other divisions? Certainly not; for what do we think it to he in its essence? Do we look upon it as spirit, or as blood, or, in short, as any bodily substance! But it is not a substance, but must be pronounced incorporeal. Is it then a limit, or a species, or a number, or a continued act, or a harmony, or any existing thing whatever? Is it, the very first moment that we are born, infused into us from without, or is it some warm nature in us which is cooled by the air which is diffused around us, like a piece of iron which has been heated at a forge, and then being plunged into cold water, is by that process tempered and hardened? (And perhaps it is from the cooling process (4^5'f) to which it is thus submitted that the soul (rj *\<vyji) derives its name.) What more sha*l ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 299 we say? When we die, is it extinguished and destroyed together with our hodies? or does it continue to live a long time? or, thirdly, is it wholly incorruptible and immortal?
Again, where, in what part does this mind lie hid? Has it received any settled habitation? For some men have dedi- n:ited to it our head, as the principal citadel, around which all the outward senses have their lairs; thinking it natural that its body-guards should be stationed near it, as near the palace of a mighty king. Some again contend earnestly in favour of the position which they assign it, believing that it is enshrined like a statue in the heart.
Therefore now the fourth element is incomprehensible, in the world the heaven, in comparison of the nature of the Barth, of the water, and of the air; and the mind in man, in comparison of the body and the outward sense, and the speech, which is the interpreter of the mind; may it not be the case also, that for this reason the fourth year is described as lioly and praiseworthy in the sacred scriptures? For among :reated things, the heaven is holy in the world, in accordance ivith which body, the imperishable and indestructible natures revolve; and in man the mind is hoky, being a sort of frag- ment of the Deity, and especially according to the statement if Moses, who says, " God breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul."* And it appears to me, that it is not without reason that both these things are called praiseworthy; for these two things, the heaven and the mind, are the things which are able to ltter, with all becoming dignity, the praises, and hymns, and 5I017, and beatitude of the Father who created them: for nan has received an especial honour beyond all other animals, lamely, that of ministering to the living God. And the leaven is always singing melodies, perfecting an all-musical larmony, in accordance with the motions of all the bodies .vhic-h exist therein; of which, if the sound ever reached our jars, love, which could not be restrained, and frantic desires, ind furious impetuosity, which could not be put an end to or •acified, would be engendered, and would compel us to give ip even what is necessary, nourishing ourselves no longer ike ordinary mortals on the meat and drink, which is received ))' means of cur throat, but on the inspired songs of music * Genesis ii. 7.
300 PHILO JUD.EUS.
in its highest perfection, as persons about to be made im- mortal through the medium of their ears: and it is said that Moses* was an incorporeal hearer of these melodies, when he went for forty days, and an equal number of nights, without at all touching any bread or any water.
VII. Therefore the heaven, which is the archetypal organ of music, appears to have been arranged in a most perfect manner, for no other object except that the hymns sung to the honour of the Father of the universe, might be attuned in a musical manner; and we hear that virtue, that is to say, Leah,f after the birth of her fourth son, was no longer able to bring forth any more, but restrained, or perhaps I should say, was restrained, as to her generative powers;_ for she found, I conceive, all her generative power dry and barren, after she had brought forth Judah, that is to say, " confession," the perfect fruit: and the phrase, "Leah desisted from bearing children," differs in no respect from the statement, that the children of Isaac found no water in the fourth well." J Since it appears from both these figurative expressions, that every creature thirsts for God, by whom all their births take place, and from whom nourishment is bestowed to them when they are born.
Perhaps therefore some petty cavilling critics will imagine that all this statement about the digging of the wells is a superfluous piece of prolixity on the part of the lawgiver: but those who deserve a larger classification, being citizens not of some petty state but of the wide world, being men of more perfect wisdom, will know well that the real question is not about the four wells, but about the parts of the universe that the men who are gifted with sight, and are fond of contem- plation exercise their powers of investigation; namely, about the earth, the water, the air, and the heaven. And examin- ing each of these matters with the most accurately refined conception, in three of them they have found some things within the reach of their comprehension; on which account they have given these names, injustice, enmity, and latitude to what they have discovered. But in the fourth, that is to say in heaven, they have found absolutely nothing whatever, which they could comprehend; as we explained a little time ago: * Exodus xxiv. 18. t Genesis xxix. 35. $ Genesis xxvi. 32.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 301 for the fourth is found to be a well destitute of water, and dry; and for the reason above mentioned it is called a well.
VIII. We will now investigate what comes next, and inquire what Charran is, and why the man who went up from the well came to it. Charran then, as it appears to me, is a sort of metropolis of the outward senses: and it is interpreted at one time a pit dug, at another time holes; one fact being intimated by both these names; for our bodies are in a man- ner dug out to furnish the organs of the outward senses, and each of the organs is a sort of hole for the corresponding out- ward sense in which it shelters itself as in a cave: when there- fore any one goes up from the well which is called the well of the oath, as if he were leaving a harbour, he immediately does of necessity come to Charran: for it is a matter of necessity that the outward senses should receive one who comes on an emigration from that most excellent country of knowledges unbounded as it is in extent, without any guide.
For our soul is very often set in motion by its own self after it has put off the whole burden of the body, and has escaped from the multitude of the outward senses; and very often too, even while it is still clothed in them.
Therefore by its own simple motion it has arrived at the comprehension of those things which are appreciable only by the intellect; and by the motion of the body, it has attained to an understanding of those things which are perceptible by the outward senses; therefore, if any one is unable altogether to associate with the mind alone, he then finds for himself a second refuge, namely, the external senses; and whoever fails in attaining to a comprehension of the things which are intel- ligible only by the intellect is immediately drawn over to the objects of the outward senses; for the second organ is always to the outward senses, in the case of those things which are not able to make a successful one as far as the dominant mind. But it is well for man not to grow old or to spend all his time in this course either, but rather, as if they were straying in a foreign country like sojourners, to be always seeking for second migration, and for a return to their native land.
'Iherefore Laban, knowing absolutely ^nothing of either sprries or genus, or form, or conception, or of anything else whatever which is comprehended by the intellect alone, and depending solely on what lies externally visible, and such 302 PHILO JUD/EUS.
things as come under the notice of the eyes, and the ears, and the other hundred faculties, is thought worthy of Charran foi his country, which Jacob, the lover of virtue, inhabits as a foreign land for a short time, always bearing in his recollection hiu return homewards; therefore his mother, perseverance, that h Rebecca, says to him, " Rise up and flee to Laban, my brother. to Charran, and dwell with him certain days."* Do you not perceive then that the practiser of virtue will not endure to live permanently in the country of the outward senses, but onlv to remain there a few days and a short time, on account of the: necessities of the body to which he is bound V But a longer time and an entire life is allotted to him in the city which is appreciable only by the intellect.
IX. In reference to which fact, also, it appears to me to be that his grandfather also, by name Abraham, so called from his knowledge, would not endure to remain any great length of time in Charran, for it is said in the scriptures that " Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed from Charran; " f although his father Terah, which name being interpreted means, the investigation of a smell, lived there till the day of his death. ^ Therefore it is expressly stated in the sacred scriptures that "Terah died in Charran," for he was only a reconnoitrer of virtue, not a citizen. And he availed himself of smells, and not of the enjoyments of food, as he was not able as yet to fill himself with wisdom, nor indeed even to get a taste of it, but only to smell it; for as it is said that those dogs which are calculated for hunting can by exerting their faculty of smell, find out the lurking places of their game at a great distance, being by nature rendered wonderfully acute as to the outward sense of smell; so in the same manner the lover of instruction tracks out the sweet breeze which is given forth by justice, and by any other virtue, and is eager to watch those qualities from which this most admirable source of delight proceeds, and while he is unable to do so he moves his head all round in a circle, smelling out nothing else, but seeking only for that most sacred scent of excellence and food, for he does not deny that he is eager for knowledge and wisdom. % Blessed therefore are they to whom it has happened to enjoy the delights of wisdom, and to feast upon its speculations and * Genesis xxvii. 43. t Genesis xii. 4. J Genesis xvii. 32.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 303 doctrines, and even of the being cheered by them still to thirst for more, feeling an insatiable and inceasing desire for knowledge. And those will obtain the second place who are not allured indeed to enjoy the sacred table, but who never- theless refresh their souls with its odours; for they will be excited by the fragrances of virtue like those languid invalids who, because they are not as yet able to take solid food, nevertheless feed on the smell of such viands as the sons of the physicians prepare as a sort of remedy for their impotency.
X. Therefore, having left the land of the Chaldaeans, Terah is said to have migrated to Charran; bringing with him his son Abraham and the rest of his household who agreed with him in opinion, not in order that we might read in the account of the historical chronicles that some men had become emigrants, leaving their native country and becoming inhabitants of a foreign land as if it were their own country, but in order that a lesson of the greatest importance to life and full of wisdom, and adapted to man alone, might not be neglected.
And what is the lesson? The Chaldaeans are great astro- nomers, and the inhabitants of Charran occupy themselves with the topics relating to the external senses. Therefore the •sacred account says to the investigator of the things of nature, why are you inquiring about the sun, and asking whether he is;i foot broad, whether he is greater than the whole earth put together, or whether he is even many times as large? And why are you investigating the causes of the light of the moon, and whether it has a borrowed light, or one which proceeds solely from itself? Why, again, do you seek to under- Btand the nature of the rest of the stars, of their motion, of their sympathy with one another, and even with earthly things? And why, while walking upon the earth do you soar above the clouds? And why, while rooted in the solid land, do you affirm that you can reach the things in the sky? And why do you endeavour to form conjectures about matters which cannot be ascertained by conjecture? And why do you busy yourself about sublime subjects which you ought not to meddle with? And why do you extend your desire to make discoveries in mathematical science as far as the heaven? And why do you devote yourself to astronomy, and talk about nothing but high subjects? My good man, do not trouble your head about