But let no one who hears that he was firmly planted thus suppose that any thing at all assists God, so as to enable him to stand firmly, but let him rather consider this fact that what is here indicated is equivalent to the assertion that the firmest position, and the bulwark, and the strength, and the steadiness 4 of everything is the immoveable God, who stamps the charac- ter of immobility on whatever he pleases; for, in consequence of his supporting and consolidating things, those which he does combine remain firm and indestructible.
Therefore he who stands upon the ladder of heaven says to him who is beholding the dream, " I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; be not afraid.'"* This oracle and this vision wore also the firmest support of the soul devoted to the practice of virtue, inasmuch as it taught it that the Lord and God of the universe is both these things also to his own race, being entitled both the Lord and God of all men, and of his grandfathers and ancestors, and being called by both names in order that the whole world and the man devoted to virtue might have the same inheritance; since it is also said, " The Lord himself is his inheritance. ''f XXVI. But do not fancy that it is an accidental thing here for him to be called in this place the God and Lord of Abraham, but only the God of Isaac; for this latter is the symbol of the knowledge which exists by nature, which hears itself, and teaches itself, and learns of itself; but Abraham is the symbol of that which is derived from the teaching of others; and the one again is an indigenous and native inhabit- ant of his country, but the other is only a settler and a foreigner; for having forsaken the language of those who indulge in sublime conversations about astronomy, a language imitating that of the Chaldieans, foreign and barbarous, he was 326 PHILO JUD^EUS.
brought over to that which was suited to a rational being, namely, to the service of the great Cause of all things.
Now this disposition stands in need of two powers to take care of it, the power that is of authority, and that of conferring benefits, in order that in accordance with the authority of the governor, it may obey the admonitions which it receives, and also that it may be greatly benefited by bis beneficence. But the other disposition stands in need of the power of beneficence only; for it has not derived any improvement from the autho- rity which admonishes it, inasmuch as it naturally claims virtue as its own, but by reason of the bounty which is showered upon it from above, it was good and perfect from the beginning; therefore God is the name of the beneficent power, and Lord is the title of the royal power.
What then can any' one call a more ancient and important good, than to be thought worthy to meet with unmixed and unalloyed beneficence? And what can be less valuable than to receive a mixture of authority and liberality? And it appears to me that it was because the practiser of virtue saw that he uttered that most admirable prayer that, " the Lord might be to him as God; "* for he desired no longer to stand in awe of him as a governor, but to honour and love him as a benefactor. Now is it not fitting that even blind men should become sharp-sighted in their minds to these and similar things, being endowed with the power of sight by the most sacred oracles, so as to be able to contemplate the glories of nature, and not to be limited to the mere understanding of the words? But even if we voluntarily close the eye of our soul and take no care to understand such mysteries, or if we are unable to look up to them, the hierophant himself stands by and prompts us. And do not thou ever cease through weariness to anoint thy eyes until you have introduced those who are duly initiated to the secret light of the sacred scriptures, and have displayed to them the hidden things therein contained, and their reality, which is invisible to those who are uninitiated.
It is becoming then for you to act thus; but as for ye, 0 souls, who have once tasted of divine love, as if you had even awakened from deep sleep, dissipate the mist that is before you; and hasten forward to that beautiful spectacle, putting aside slow and hesitating fear, in order to comprehend all the * Genesis xxviii. 21 ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 327 beautiful sounds and sights which the president of the games has prepared for your advantage.
XXVII. There are then a countless number of things well worthy of being displayed and demonstrated; and among them one which was mentioned a little while ago; for the oracle calls the person who was really his grandfather, the father of the practiser of virtue, and to him who was really his father, it has not given any such title; for the scripture says, " I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father," but in reality Abraham was his grandfather; and then proceeds, " And the God of Isaac," and in this case he does not add, "thy father:" is it not then worth while to examine into the cause of this differ- ence? Undoubtedly it is; let us then in a careful manner apply ourselves to the consideration of the cause.
Philosophers say that virtue exists among men, either by nature, or by practice, or by learning. On which account the sacred scriptures represent the three founders of the nation of the Israelites as wise men; not indeed originally endowed with the same kind of wisdom, but arriving rapidly at the same end. For the eldest of them, Abraham, had instruction for his guide in the road which conducted him to virtue; as we shall show in another treatise to the best of our power. And Isaac, who is the middle one of the three, had a self-taught and self- instructed nature. And Jacob, the third, arrived at this point by industry and practice, in accordance with which were his labours of wrestling and contention.
Since then there are thus three different manners by which wisdom exists among men, it happens that the two extremes are the most nearly and frequently united. For the virtue which is acquired by practice, is the offspring of that which is derived from learning. But that which is implanted by nature is indeed akin to the others, for it is set below them, as the root for them all. But it has obtained its prize without any rivalry or difficulty. So that it is thus very natural for Abraham, as one who had been improved by instruction, to be called the father of Jacob, who arrived at his height of virtue by practice. By which expression is indicated not so much the relationship of one man to the other, but that the power which is fond of hearing is very ready for learning; the power which is devoted to practice being also well suited for wrestling. If, * Genesis xxviii. 13.
328 PHILO JUD^EUS.
328 PHILO JUD^EUS.
however, this practiser of virtue runs on vigorously towards the end and learns to see clearly what he previously only dreamed of in an indistinct way, being altered and re-stamped with a better character, and being called Israel, that is, "the man who sees God," instead of Jacob, that is, " the supplanter," he then is no longer set down as the son of Abraham, as his father, of him who derived wisdom from instruction, but as the son of Israel, who was born excellent by nature.
These statements are not fables of my own invention, but are the oracle written on the sacred pillars. For, says the scripture: " Israel having departed, he and all that he had came to the well of the oath, and there he sacrificed a sacrifice to [the God of his father Isaac."* Do you not now perceive that this present assertion has reference not to the relationship between mortal men, but, as was said before, to the nature of things? For look at what is before us. At one time, Jacob is spoken of as the son of his father Abraham, and at another time he is called Israel, the son of Isaac, on account of the reason which we have thus accurately investigated.
XXVIII. Having then said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham, the father and the God of Isaac," he adds: " Be not afraid," very consistently. For how can we any longer be ■afraid when we have thee, 0 God, as our armour and defender? Thee, the deliverer from fear and from every painful feeling? Thee, who hast also fashioned the archetypal forms of our instruction while they were still indistinct, so as to make them visible, teaching Abraham wisdom, and begetting Isaac, who was wise from his birth. For you condescended to be called the guide of the one and the father of the other, assigning to the one the rank of a pupil, and to the other that of a son.
For this reason, too, God promised that he would give him the land. I mean by the land here, all-prolific virtue, on which the practiser rests from his contests and sleeps, from the fact of the life according to the outward sense being lulled asleep, and that of the soul being awakened. Receiving gladly peace- ful repose there, which he did not obtain without war, and the afflictions which arise from war, not by means of bearing arms and slaying men; away with any such notion! but by over- throwing the array of vices and passions which are the adversaries of virtue.
* Genesis xlvi, 1.
* Genesis xlvi, 1.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 329 But the race of wisdom is likened to the sand of the sea, by reason of its boundless numbers, and because also the sand, like a fringe, checks the incursions of the sea; as the reasonings of instruction beat back the violence of wickedness and iniquity. And these reasonings, in accordance with the divine promises, are extended to the very extremities of the universe. And they show that he who is possessed of them is the inheritor of all the parts of the world, penetrating everywhere, to the east, and to the west, to the south, and to the north. For it is said in the scripture: " He shall be extended towards the sea, and towards the south, and towards the north, and towards the cast."* But the wise and virtuous man is not only a blessing to himself, but he is also a common good to all men, diffusing advantages over all from his own ready store. For as the sun is the 'light of all those beings who have eyes, so also is the wise man light to all those who partake of a rational nature.
XXIX. "For in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And this oracle applies to the wise man in respect of himself, and also in respect of others. f For if the mind which is in me is purified by perfect virtue, and if the tribes of that earthly part which is about me are purified at the same time, which tribes have fallen to the lot of the external senses, and of the greatest channel of all, namely the body; and if any one, either in his house, or in his city, or in his country, or in his nation, becomes a lover of wisdom, it is inevitable that that house, and that city, and that country, and that nation, must attain to a better life. For, as those spices which are set on fire fill all persons near them with their fragrance, so in the same manner do all those persons who are neighbours of and contiguous to the wise man catch some of the exhalations which reach to a distance from him, and so become improved in their characters.
XXX. And it is the greatest of all advantages to a soul engaged in labours and contests, to have for its fellow traveller, God, who penetrates everywhere. " For behold," says God, "lam with thee. "J Of what then can we be in need while we have for our wealth Thee, who art the only true and real * Genesis xxviii. 14.
t The text is very corrupt here. I have followed Mangey's readi ng and translation.
I Genesis xxviii. 15.
330 PHILO JUDiEUS.
riches, who keepest us in the road which leads to virtue in all its different divisions? For it is not one portion only of the rational life which conducts to justice and to all other virtue, but the parts are infinite in number, from which those who desire to arrive at virtue can set out.
XXXI. Very admirably therefore is it said in the scripture: " I will lead thee back to this land." For it was fitting that the reason should remain with itself, and should not depart to the outward sense. And if it has departed, then the next best thing is for it to return back again. And perhaps also a doctrine bearing on the immortality of the soul is figuratively intimated by this expression. For the soul, having left the region of heaven, as was mentioned a little while before, came to the body as to a foreign country. Therefore the father who begot it promises that he will not permit it to be for ever held in bondage, but that he will have compassion on it, and will unloose its chains, and will conduct it in safety and freedom as far as the metropolis, and will not cease to assist it till the promises which he has made in words are confirmed by the truth of actions. For it is by all means the peculiar attribute of God to foretell what is to happen.
And why do we say this? for his words do not differ from his actions; therefore the soul which is devoted to the practice of virtue, being set in motion, and roused up to the investiga- tions relating to the living God, at first suspected that the living God existed in place; but after a short space it became perplexed by the difficulty of the question, and began to change itso pinion. u For," says the scripture, " Jacob awoke and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not;" and it would have been better, I should have said; not to know it, than to fancy that God existed in any place, he who him- self contains all things in a circle.
XXXII. Very naturally, therefore, was Jacob afraid, and said in a spirit of admiration, " how dreadful is this place."* For, in truth, of all the topics or places in natural philosophy, the most formidable is that in which it is inquired where the living God is, and whether in short he is in any place at all. Since some persons affirm that everything which exists occupies some place or other, and others assign each thing a different place, either in the world or out of the world, ) • Genesis xxviii. 16.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 331 ;ome space between the different bodies of the universe. mIk is again affirm that the uncreated God resembles no created being whatever, but that he is superior to everything, 10 that the very swiftest conception is outstripped by him, md confesses that it is very far inferior to the comprehension if him; wherefore it speedily cries out, This is not what I expected, because the Lord is in the place; for he surrounds vrn filing, but in truth and reason he is not surrounded by mything.
And this thing which is demonstrated and visible, this vorld perceptible by the outward senses, is nothing else but he house of God, the abode of one of the powers of the true rod, in accordance with which he is good; and he calls this vorld an abode, and he has also pronounced it with great ruth to be the gate of heaven. Now, what does this mean? We cannot comprehend the world which consists of various ;pecies, in that which is fashioned in accordance with the livine regulations, appreciable only by the intellect, in any ither manner than by making a migration upwards from this •ther world perceptible by the outward senses and visible; for t is not possible either to perceive any other existing being vhich is incorporeal, without deriving our principles of judg- nent from bodies. For while they are quiet, their place is >erceived, and when they are in motion we judge of their ime; but the points, and the lines, and the superficies, and in liort the boundaries * as of a garment wrapped xternally around it.
According to analogy, therefore, the knowledge of the .orld appreciable by the intellect is attained to by means of iir knowledge of that which is perceptible by the outward euses, which is as it were a gate to the other. For as men ■ ho wish to see cities enter in through the gates, so also they ■'ho wish to comprehend the invisible world are conducted in heir search by the appearance of the visible one. And the orld of that essence which is only open to the intellect with- ul any visible appearance or figure whatever, and which exists nly in the archetypal idea which exists in the mind, which is ifihioned according to its appearance, will be brought on with- * There is an hiatus here, which cannot be filled up satisfactorily, lie whole of the rest of the chapter is pronounced by Mangey to be Jscure and corrupt, and almost unintelligible.
332 PHILO JUDiEUS.
out any shade; all the walls, and all the gates which coulc impede its progress being removed, so that it is not looked ai through any other medium, but by itself, putting forth t beauty which is susceptible of no change, presenting ar indescribable and exquisite spectacle.
XXXIII. But enough of this. There is another dream alsr which belongs to the same class, that one I mean about thi spotted flock, which the person who beheld it relates after h( had awoke, saying, " The angel of God spake unto me ir a dream, and said, Jacob; and I said, What is it? And he said unto me, Look up with thine eyes, and see the goats anc the rams mounting on the flocks, arid the she-goats, some white, and spotted, and ring-straked, and speckled: for I have beheld all that Laban does unto thee. I am that God \\h< was seen by thee in the place of God, where thou anointeds' the pillar, and vowedst a vow unto me. Now therefore, rise uj and depart out of this land, and go into the land of thy birth and I will be with thee."* You see here, that the divine word speaks of dreams as sen* from God; including in this statement not those only wind appear through the agency of the chief cause itself, but those also which are seen through the operation of his interpreters and attendant angels, who are thought by the father whi created them to be worthy of a divine and blessed lot: consider however, what comes afterwards. The sacred word enjoin; some persons what they ought to do by positive command, like a king; to others it suggests what will be for their advantage as a preceptor does to his pupils; to others again, it is like; counsellor suggesting the wisest plans; and in this way too, ii is of great advantage to those who do not of themselves knov what is expedient; to others it is like a friend, in a mild anc persuasive manner, bringing forward many secret things whicl no uninitiated person may lawfully hear.
For at times it asks some persons, as for instance, Adam u Where art thou? " And any one may properly answer to sucl a question, "No where?" Because ail human affairs nevei remain long in the same condition, but are moved about anc changed, whether wc speak of their soul or their body, or o their external circumstances; for their minds are unstable, no always having the same impressions from the same things, bu ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 333 Buch as are diametrically contrary to their former ones. The Ibody also is unstable, as all the changes of the different ages from infancy to old age show; their external circumstances also ire variable, being tossed up and down by the impetus of ever- agitate4 fortune.
XXXIV. When, however, he comes into an assembly of ifriends, he does not begin to speak before he has first accosted Jeach individual among them, and addressed him by name, so that they prick up their ears, and are quiet and attentive, 'listening to.the oracles thus delivered, so as never to forget them or let them escape their memory: since in another pass- age of scripture we read, "Be silent and listen."* In this manner too, Moses is called up to the bush. For, the scripture says, " When he saw that he was turning aside to see, God called him out of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses: and he said, What is it, Lord?"f And Abraham also, on the occasion of offering up his beloved and only son as a burnt-offering, when he was beginning to sacrifice him, and when he had given proof of bis piety, was forbidden to destroy the self-taught race, Isaac by name, from among men; for at the beginning of his account of this transaction, Moses says that " God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here am I. And he said unto him, Take now thy beloved son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him up.'' And when he had brought the victim to the altar, then the mgel of the Lord called him out of heaven, saying, "Abraham, Abraham," and he answered, " Behold, here am I. And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the child, and do nothing to him. "{ Also the practiser of virtue is also called one of this company lear to God, being deservedly accounted worthy of the same iionour; for, says the scripture, "The angel of God said to ne in my sleep, Jacob: and I answered, and said, What a it?"§ But after he has been called he exerts his attention, indeavouring to arrive at an accurate knowledge of the symbols •viiich are displayed to him; and these symbols are the coll- ection and generation of reasonings, as flocks and herds. For, says the scripture, " Jacob, looking up with his eyes, aw the goats and the rams leaping upon the she- goats and * Deuteronomy xxvii. 9. t Exodus iii. 4.
£ Genesis xxii. 1. § Genesis xxxi. 10.
33 I PIIILO JUDiEUS.
upon the sheep." Now the he-goat is the leader of the flock of goats, and the ram is the leader of the flock of sheep, and these two animals are symbols of perfect reasonings, one of which purifies and cleanses the soul of sins, and the other nourishes it and renders it full of good actions.
Such then are the leaders of the flocks in us, namely, reasons; and the flocks themselves, resembling the sheep and goats whose names they bear, rush forwards and hasten with zeal and earnestness towards justice.
Therefore, looking up with the eye of his mind, which up to that time had been closed, he saw the perfect and thoroughly sharpened reasons analogically resembling the goats and rams, prepared for the diminution of offences and the increase of good actions. And he beheld how they leap upon the sheep and the goats, that is on those souls which are still young and tender, and in the vigour of youth, and beautiful in the flower of their age; not pursuing irrational pleasure, but indulging in the invisible sowing of the doctrines of prudence. For this is a marriage which is blessed in its children; not uniting bodies, but adapting perfect virtues to well-disposed souls.
Therefore do all ye right reasons of wisdom leap up, form connections, sow seed, and pass by no soul which jrou see rich and fertile, and well-disposed, and virgin; but inviting it to association and connection with you, render it perfect and pregnant; for so you will become the parents of all kinds of good things, of a male offspring, white, variegated, ring-straked, and speckled.
XXXV. But we must now examine what power each of these offspring has. Now those which are purely white (didXivxa) are the most beautiful and the most conspicuous; the word ha being often prefixed in composition by way of adding force to the word, so that the words diabrfko* and didff^ov are commonly used to signify what is very conspicuous (6'rjXov) and very remarkable (svisTifiov); therefore them eaning here is that the first-born offspring of the soul which has received the sacred seed, is purely white; being like light in which there is no obscurity, and like the most brilliant radiance: like the unclouded beam which might proceed from the rays of the sun in fine weather at mid-day. Again, by the statement that some are variegated, what is meant is, not that the flocks are marked by such a multiform and various spottedness as to resemble the ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 835 inclean leprosy, and which is an emblem of a life unsteady and about in any direction by reason of the fickleness of the nind, but only that they have marks drawn in regular lines and .ill* rent characters, shaped and impressed with all kinds of veil approved forms, the peculiarities of which, being mingled ogether and combined properly, will produce a musical har- uony.
Fur some persons have looked upon the art of variegating B 10 random and obscure a matter, that they have referred it o weavers. But I Admire not only the art itself, but the iame likewise, and most especially so wThen I look upon the livisions of the earth and the spheres in heaven, and the dif- erences between various plants and various animals, and that nost variegated texture, I mean the world; for I am com- piled to suppose, that the maker of this universal textile abric was also the inventor of all varied and variegating cience; and I look with reverence upon the inventor, and I icmour the art which he invented, and 1 am amazed at the vork which is the result, and this too, though it is but a very mall portion of it which I have been able to see, but still, rom the portion which has been unfolded to me, if indeed I nay say that it has been unfolded, I hope to form a tolerably ccurate judgment of the whole, guiding my conjectures by the ight of analogy.
Nevertheless I admire the lover of wisdom for having stu- ied the same art, collecting and thinking fit to weave together iany things, though different, and proceeding from different Durces, into the same web; for taking the two first elements 'om the grammatical knowledge imparted to children, that is ) say, reading and writing, and taking \ from the more perfect rowth of knowledge the skill which is found among poets, and le comprehension of ancient history, and deriving certainty nd freedom from deception from arithmetic and geometry, in Inch sciences there is need of proportions and calculations; ud borrowing from music rhyme, and metre, and harmonies, nd chromatics, and diatonics, and combined and disjoined me- i'dies; and having derived from rhetoric invention, and lan- jiage, and arrangement, and memory, and action; and from (!iilosophy, whatever has been omitted in any of these sepa- jite branches, and all the other things of which human life insists, he has put together in one most admirably arranged 336 PHILO JUD^US.
work, combining great learning of one kind witn great learn- ing of another kind.
Now the sacred scripture calls the maker of this compound work Besaleel, which name, being interpreted, signifies "in the shadow of God;" for he makes all the copies, and the man by name Moses makes all the models, as the principal architect; and for this reason it is, that the one only draws outlines as it were, but the other is not content with such sketches, but makes the archetypal natures themselves, and has already adorned the holy places witn his variegating art: but the wise man is called the only adorner of the place ot wisdom in the oracles delivered in the sacred scriptures.
XXXVI. And the most beautiful and varied work of God, this world, has been created in this its present state of per- fection by all-wise knowledge; and how can it be anything but right to receive the art of variegating as a noble effort of knowledge? the most sacred copy of which is the whole word of wisdom, which will bear about in its bosom the things oi heaven and of earth, from which the practiser of virtue elaborates his notions of various things.
For after the white sheep he immediately beheld the varie- gated animals, stamped with the impression of instruction, The third kind are the ring-straked and speckled; and whal man in his senses would deny that these also are, as to then genus, variegated? but still he is not so very eager about tin varieties of the members of the flocks, as about the roat which leads to virtue and excellence; for the prophet intend: that he who proceeds along this road shall be besprinkled wit! dust and water; because it is related that the earth and water being kneaded together and fashioned into shape by th( Creator of man, was formed into one body, not being made ty hand, but being the work of invisible nature.
Therefore it is the first principle of wisdom not to forge one's self, and always to keep before one's eyes the materials o which one has been compounded; for in this way a man wil get rid of boasting and arrogance, which of all evils is tfo one most hated by God; for who that ever admits into hi mind the recollection that the first principles of his formatioi are dust and water, would ever be so puffed by vanity as to b unduly elated? On this account the prophet has thought i fit that those who are about to offer sacrifice shall be b(