ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 337 sprinkled with the aforesaid things; thinking no one worthy to appear at a sacrifice who has not first of all learnt to know himself, and to comprehend the nothingness of mankind, and the elements of which he is composed, conjecturing from them that he himself is utterly insignificant.
XXXVII. These three signs, the white, the variegated, and the ring-straked and speckled, are as yet imperfect in the practiser of virtue, who has not himself as yet attained to perfection. But, in the case of him who is perfect, they also appear to be perfect. And in what manner they appear so we will examine. The sacred scripture has appointed that the great High Priest, when he was about to perform the minis- trations appointed by the law, should be besprinkled with water and ashes in the first place, that he might come to a remem- brance of himself. For the wise Abraham also, when he went forth to converse with God, pronounced himself to be dust and ashes. In the second place, it enjoins him to put on a tunic reaching down to his feet, and the variously-embroidered thing which was called his breast-plate, an image and representation of the light-giving stars which appear in heaven.
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God: one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine word, his own first-born son. The other is the rational soul, the priest of which is the real true man, the copy of whom, perceptible to the senses, is he who performs his paternal vows and sacrifices, to whom it is enjoined to put on the aforesaid tunic, the representation of the universal heaven, in order that the world may join with the man in offering sacrifice, and that the man may likewise co-operate with the universe.
He is now therefore shown to have these two things, the speckled and the variegated character. We will now proceed Ito explain the third and most perfect kind, which is denomi- nated thoroughly white. When this same high priest enters into the innermost parts of the holy temple, he is clothed in the variegated garment, and he also assumes another linen robe, made of the very finest flax. And this is an emblem of vigour, I'.id incorruptibility, and the most brilliant light. For such a veil is a thing very difficult to be broken, and it is made of nothing mortal, and when it is properly and carefully purified t has a most clear and brilliant appearance. And these in- junctions contain this figurative meaning, that of those who in VOL. II. Z 338 PHILO JUD^US.
a pure and guileless spirit serve the living God, there is no one who does not at first depend upon the firmness and obstinacy of his mind, despising all human affairs, which allure men with their specious bait, and injure them, and produce weakness in them. In the next place, he aims at immortality, laughing at the blind inventions with which mortals delude themselves. And last of all, he shines with the unclouded and most brilliant light of truth, no longer desiring any of the things which belong to false opinion, which prefer darkness rather than light.
XXXVIII. The great high priest of the confession, then, may have now been sufficiently described by us, being stamped with the impressions above-mentioned, the white, the varie- gated, and the ring-straked and speckled. But he who is desirous of the administration of human affairs, hy name Joseph, does not, as it appears, claim for himself any of the extreme characteristics, but only that variegated one which is in the middle between the others. For we read that Joseph had a coat of many colours,' '* not being sprinkled with the sacred purifications, by means of which he might have known that he himself was only a compound of dust and water, and not being able to touch that thoroughly white and most shining raiment, virtue. But being clothed in the much-variegated web of political affairs, with which the smallest possible portion of truth is mixed up; and also many and large portions of plausible, probable, and likely falsehoods, from which all the sophists of Egypt, and all the augurs, and ventriloquists, and sorcerers spring; men skilful in juggling, and in incantations, and in tricks of all 'kinds, from whose treacherous arts it is very difficult to escape.
And it is on this account that Moses very naturally repre- sents this robe as stained with blood; since the whole life of the man who is mixed up in political affairs is tainted, warring on others and being warred against, and being aimed at, and attacked, and shot at by all the unexpected chances which be- fall him.
Examine now the man who has great influence with the people, on whom the affairs of the city depend. Do not be alarmed at those who look with admiration upon him; and you will find many diseases lurking within him, and you will see * Genesis xxxvii. 3.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 3o9 that he is entangled in many disasters, and that fortune is dragging him violently in different directions, though he bends his neck the other way, and resists, although invisibly, and in fact that fortune is seeking to overthrow and destroy him; or else the people themselves are impatient at his supremacy, or he is exposed to the attacks of some more powerful rival. And envy is a formidable enemy, and one hard to be shaken off, clinging also to everything that is called good fortune, and it is not easy to escape from it.
XXXIX. What reason is there then for our congratulating ourselves on the administration of political affairs as if we were clothed in a garment of many colours, deceived by its external splendour, and not perceiving its ugliness, which is kept out of sight, and hidden, and full of treachery and guile? Let us then put off this flowery robe, and put on that sacred one woven with the embroideries of virtue; for thus we shall escape the snares which want of skill, and ignorance, and want of know- ledge, and education lay for us, of which Laban is the com- panion. For when the sacred word has purified us with the sprinklings prepared beforehand for purification, and when it has adorned us with the select reasonings of true philosophy, and, having led us to that man who has stood the test, has made us genuine, and conspicuous, and shining, it blames the "reacherous disposition which seeks to raise itself up to invalidate what is said.
For the scripture says: "I have seen what Laban does into thee,"* namely, things contrary to the benefits which I sonferred on you, things impure, wicked, and altogether suited o darkness. But it is not right for the man who anchors on he hope of the alliance of God to crouch and tremble, to whom jod says, " I am the God who was seen by thee in the place )f God." A very glorious boast for the soul, that God should hink fit to appear to and to converse with it. And do not )ass by what is here said, but examine it accurately, and see vhether there are really two Gods. For it is said: " I am the jod who was seen by thee; " not in my place, but in the place »f God, as if he meant of some other God.
What then ought we to say? There is one true God only: art they who are called Gods, by an abuse of language, are mmerous; on which account the holy scripture on the present * Genesis xxxi. 12. Z 2 340 PHILO JUD^US.
occasion indicates that it is the true God that is meant by the use of the article, the expression being, " I am the God (6 ®sb$); " but when the word is used incorrectly, it is put without the article, the expression being, " He who was seen by thee in the place," not of the God (rov Qzov), but simply u of God"(0eoD); and what he here calls God is his most ancient word, not having any superstitious regard to the position of the names, but only proposing one end to himself, namely, to give a true account of the matter; for in other passages the sacred historian, when he considered whether there really was any name belonging to the living God, showed that he knew that there was none properly belonging to him; but that whatever appellation any one may give him, will be an abuse of terms; for the living God is not of a nature to be described, but only to be.
XL. And a proof of this may be found in the oraculai answer given by God to the person who asked what name h( had, " I am that I am,"* that the questioner might know tlw existence of those things which it was not possible for man t< conceive not being connected with God. Accordingly, to th( incorporeal souls which are occupied in his service, it is natura for him to appear as he is, conversing with them as a frienc with his friends; but to those souls which are still in the bod; he must appear in the resemblance of the angels, thougl without changing his nature (for he is unchangeable), bu merely implanting in those who behold him an idea of hi having another form, so that they fancy that it is his image not an imitation of him, but the very archetypal appearand itself.
There is then an old story much celebrated, that the Divinitj assuming the resemblance of men of different countries, goe round the different cities of men, searching out the deeds c iniquity and lawlessness; and perhaps, though the fable is nc true, it is a suitable and profitable one. But the scriptun which at all times advances its conceptions with respect to th Deity, in a more reverential and holy tone, and which likewk desires to instruct the life of the foolish, has spoken of Go under the likeness of a man, though not of any particular man attributing to him, with this view, the possession of a face, an hands, and feet, and of a mouth and voice, and also anger ar * Exodus iii. 14.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 34 1 passion, and moreover, defensive weapons, and goings in and goings out, and motions upwards and downwards, and in every direction, not indeed using all these expressions with strict troth, but having regard to the advantage of those who are to learn from it; for the writers knew that some men are very dull in their natures, so as to be utterly unable to form any conception whatever of God apart from a body, whom it would be impossible to admonish if they were to speak in any other style than the existing one, of representing God as coming and departing like a man; and as descending and ascending, and as using his voice, and as being angry with sinners, and being implacable in his anger; and speaking too of his darts and swords, and whatever other instruments are suitable to be employed against the wicked, as being all previously ready.
For we must be content if such men can be brought to a proper state, by the fear which is suspended over them by such descriptions; and one may almost say that these are the only two paths taken, in the whole history of the law; one leading to the plain truth, owing to which we have such assertions as, " God is not as a man;"* the other, that which has regard to the opinions of foolish men, in reference to whom it is said, " The Lord God shall instruct you, like as if a man instructs his son."f XLI. Why then do we any longer wonder, if God at times assumes the likeness of the angels, as he sometimes assumes even that of men, for the sake of assisting those who address their entreaties to him '? so that when he says, * I am the God who was seen by thee in the place of God;"| we must under- stand this, that he on that occasion took the place of an angel, as far as appearance went, without changing his own real nature, for the advantage of him who was not, as yet, able to bear the sight of the true God; for as those who are not able to look upon the sun itself, look upon the reflected rays of the sun as the sun itself, and upon the halo around the moon as if it were the moon itself; so also do those who are unable to bear the sight of God, look upon his image, his angel word, as himself.
Do you not see that encyclical instruction, that is, Hagar, 342 PHILO JVDMUS.
says to the angel, "Art thou God who seest me?"* for she was not capable of beholding the most ancient caune, inasmuch as she was by birth a native of Egypt. But now the mind begins to be improved, so as to be able to contemplate the governor of all the powers; on which account he says himself, "I am the Lord God,"f I whose image you formerly beheld instead of me, and whose pillar you set up, engraving on it a most sacred inscription; and the inscription indicated that I stood alone, and that I established the nature of all things, bringing disorder and irregularity into order and regularity, and sup- porting the universe firmly, so that it might rest on a firm and solid foundation, my own ministering word.
XLII. For the pillar is the symbol of three things; of standing, of dedication, and of an inscription: now the standing and the inscription have been described, but the dedication it is necessary should be explained to all men. For heaven and the world are an offering dedicated to God who made them; and all the cosmopolitan and God-loving souls, which dedicate and consecrate themselves to him, not allowing any mortal thing to drag them in an opposite direction, are never weary of hallowing their own life, and adorning it with every kind of beauty as a meet offering for him. And he is a foolish man who does not set up a pillar to God, but who erects one to himself instead, attributing stability to the things of creation, which is tossed about in every direction, and thinking those things worthy of inscriptions and panegyrics, which are in reality full of matter for blame and accusation, and which as such had better never have been mentioned in an inscription at all, or if they had, had better have been speedily erased again.
On which account the holy scripture says distinctly, " Thou slialt not set up a pillar to thyself;"^ for in truth there is nothing belonging to man that is stable, no, not though some persons persist even so obstinately in affirming it. But tbey not only think that they stand firmly, but also that they are worthy of honours and inscriptions, forgetting him who is alone worthy of honour, and who is alone firmly fixed; for while they are turning aside and wandering away from the path which leads to virtue, the outward sense leads them still more astray, that is to say, the woman who is akin to them, she also * Genesis xvi. 13. t Genesis xxxi. 13. J Deut. xvi. 22.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 3 i 3 compels them to run ashore; therefore, the whole soul, like a ship,* being shut in all around, is offered up as a pillar; for the sacred scriptures tell us that Lot's wife having turned back to look behind her, became a pillar of salt, and this is said very naturally and fitly; for if any one does not look forwards at those things which are worthy of being seen and heard (and these things are the virtues and the actions done in accordance with virtue), but looks backwards at the things which are behind him, at deaf glory, and blind riches, and senseless vigour of body, and an empty elegance of mind, pursuing these objects only, and such as are akin to them, he will lie as a lifeless pillar melting away by itself; for salt is not a thing to preserve his firmness.
XLIII. Very admirably therefore does the practiser of vir- tue, having learnt by continued study that creation is a thing in its own nature moveable, but that the uncreated God is unchangeable and immoveable, erect a pillar to God, and anoint it after he has erected it; for God says, " Thou hast anointed my pillar." t But do not fancy that that stone was anointed with oil, but understand rather that that opinion, that God is the only being who stands firmly, was thoroughly hardened by exercise, and established in the soul by the science of wrestling, not that science by which bodies are made fat, but that by which the mind acquires strength and irresistible vigour; for the man who is eager in the pursuit of good studies and virtuous objects is fond of labours, and fond of exercises; so that very naturally, having worked out the science of training which is the sister of the art of medicine, he anoints and brings to perfection all the reasonings of virtue and piety, and dedicates them, as a most beautiful and lasting offering to God.
For this reason, after mentioning the dedication of the pillar, God adds that, " Thou vowedst avow to me." Now a vow also is, to speak properly, a dedication, since he who makes a vow is said to offer up, as a gift to God, not only his own posses- sions, but himself likewise, who is the owner of them; for says the scripture, " the man is holy who nourishes the locks of the hair of his head; who has vowed a vow." But. if he is holy ho • Mangey thinks that this passage is corrupt, and proposes to alter vavQ into airvovq, "dead," but it seems unnecessary, t Genesis xxxi. 13.
344 PHILO JUD.EUS.
is undoubtedly an offering to God, no longer meddling with anything unholy or profane; and there is an evidence in favour of my argument, in the conduct of the prophetess, and mother of a prophet, Hannah, whose name being translated, signifies grace; for she says that she gives her son, " Samuel, as a gift to the Holy One,"* not dedicating him more as a human being, than as a disposition full of inspiration, and possessed by a d vinely sent impulse; and the name Samuel being interpreted means, " appointed to God."
Why then, 0 my soul, do you any longer waste yourself in vain speculations and labours? and why do you not go as a pupil to the practiser of virtue, taking up arms against the passions, and against vain opinion, to learn from him the way to wrestle with them? For as soon as you have learnt this art, you will become the leader of a flock, not of one which is destitute of marks, and of reason, and of docility, but of one which is well approved, and rational, and beautiful, of which, if you become the leader, you will pity the miserable race of mankind, and will not cease to reverence the Deity; and you will never be weary of blessing God, and moreover you will engrave hymns suited to your sacred subject upon pillars, that you may not only speak fluently, but may also sing musically the virtues of the living God; for by these means you will be able to return to your father's house, being delivered from a long and profitless wandering in a foreign land.
A TEEATISE ON THB DOCTRINE THAT DREAMS ARE SENT FROM GOD.
BOOK II.
I. In describing the third species of dreams which are sent from God, we very naturally call on Moses as an ally, in order that as he learnt, having previously been ignorant, so he may instruct us who are also ignorant, concerning these signs, illus- trating each separate one of them.
* 1 Samuel i. 28.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 345 Now this third species of dreams exists, whenever in sleep the mind being set in motion by itself, and agitating itself, is filled with frenzy and inspiration, so as to predict future events by a certain prophetic power. For the first kind of dreams which we mentioned, was that which proceeded from God as the author of its motion, and, as some invisible manner prompted us what was indistinct to us, but well known to him- self. The second kind was when our own intellect was set in motion simultaneously with the soul of the universe, and became rilled with divine madness, by means of which it is allowed to prognosticate events which are about to happen; and for this reason the interpreter of the sacred will very plainly and clearly speaks of dreams, indicating by this expres- sion the visions which appear according to the first species, as if God, by means of dreams, gave suggestions which were equivalent to distinct and precise oracles. Of the visions according to the second species he speaks neither very clearly nor very obscurely; an instance of which is afforded by the vision which was exhibited of the ladder reaching up to heaven; for this vision was an enigmatical one; nevertheless, the meaning was not hidden from those who were able to see with any great acuteness.
But these visions which are afforded according to the third species of dreams, being less clear than the two former kinds by reason of their having an enigmatical meaning deeply jseated and fully coloured, require the science of an interpreter of dreams. At all events all the dreams of this class, which {are recorded by the lawgiver, are interpreted by men who are skilled in the aforesaid art.
Whose dreams then am I here alluding to? Surely every one must see to those of Joseph, and of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to those which the chief baker and the chief butler saw themselves; and it may be well at all times to begin our instruction with the first instances.
Now the first dreams are those which Joseph beheld, receiving two visions from the two parts of the world, heaven and earth. From the earth the dream about the harvest; and that is as follows, " I thought that we were all binding sheaves in the middle of the field; and my sheaf stood up."* And the other relates to the circle of the zodiac, and is, " They * Genesis xxxvii. 7.
346 PHILO JUD^US.
346 PHILO JUD^US.
worshipped me as the sun and the moon and the eleven stari.* And the interpretation of the former one, which was delivered with great violence of reproof, is as follows, " Shall you be a king and reign over us? or shall you be a lord and lord it over us?" The interpretation of the second is again full of just indignation, u Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brethren come and fall down upon the ground and worship thee?"
II. Let these things be laid down first by way of founda- tion; and on this foundation let us raise up the rest of the building, following the rules of that wise architect, allegory, and accurately investigating each particular of the dreams; but first we must mention what it is requisite should be attended to before the dreams. Some persons have extended the nature of good over many things, and others have attributed it to the most excellent Being alone; some again have mixed it with other things, while others have spoken of it as unalloyed.
Those then who have called only what is honourable good, have preserved this nature free from alloy, and have attributed it only to what is most excellent, namely to the reason that is in us; but those who have mixed it have combined it with three things, the soul, the body, and external circumstances. And they who act thus are persons of a somewhat effeminate and luxurious way of life, being bred up the greater part of their time, from their earliest infancy, in the women's apartments and among the effeminate race which is found in the women's apartments. But those who argue differently are men inclined to a harder regimen, being bred up from their boyhood among men, and being themselves men in their minds, embracing what is right in preference to what is pleasant, and devoting themselves to nourishment fit for athletes for the sake of strength and vigour, not of pleasure.
Moses moreover represents two persons as leaders of these two companies. The leader of the noble and good company is the self-taught and self-instructed Isaac; for he records that he was weaned, not choosing to avail himself at all of ten- der, and milk-like, and childish, and infantine food, but only of such as was vigorous and perfect, inasmuch as he was formed by nature, from his very infancy, for acts of virtue, and was always in the prime and vigour of youth and energy. ^ut the leader of the company, which yields and which is ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 347 inclined to softer measures, is Joseph; for he does not indeed (neglect the virtues of the soul, but he likewise shows anxiety i about the stability and permanence of the body, and also de- sires an abundance of worldly treasures; and it is in strict i accordance with natural truth, that he is represented as drawn in different directions, since he proposes to himself many dif- ferent objects in life; and being attracted by each of them, he is kept in a state of commotion and agitation, without being able to stand firm.
And his case is not like that of cities, which having made a [truce enjoy peace, and yet after a time are again attacked, so as to gain the victory and to be defeated alternately; for at 'times a great influx of riches and glory coming upon them, ■subdues all their cares for the body and the soul, but after- iwards, being repelled by both these things, they are conquered by the adversary; and in the same manner all the pleasures of the body coming upon the soul in a compact array over- whelm and efface all the objects of the intellect one after the 'other; and then, after a short time, wisdom, changing its (course and blowing in the opposite direction with a fresh and violent breeze, causes the stream of the pleasures to slacken, md altogether moderates all the eagerness, and impetuosity, md rivalry of the external senses.
Such a circle then of never-ending war revolves around the >oul, subject as it is to so many changes; for when one memy has been destroyed, then immediately there springs up mother more powerful, after the fashion of the many-headed lydra; for they say, that in the case of this monster, instead )f the head which was cut off another sprung up, by which statement they mean to intimate the multiform, and prolific, (tnd almost invincible character of undying wickedness.
Do not, therefore, answer Joseph * but mow that he is the image of multiform and mixed knowledge. 7or there appears in him a rational species of continence, vhich is of the masculine kind, being fashioned in accordance vith his father Jacob; and also that kind which is devoid of •eason is likewise visible, that of the outward sense I mean, >eing made in the likeness of his maternal race, according to tachel. There appears in him also the seed of bodily plea- * There is an hiatus here, and there is a good deal of corruption bout the beginning of this book.
348 PHILO JUD/EUS.