multitude of things which were thus brought upon it; for during the banquet of the outer senses, the mind is labouring under a famine, as, on the contrary, when the outward senses are fasting, the mind is feasting.
Do you not see that the five daughters of Salpaad, which we, using allegorical expressions, call the outward senses, were born of the tribe of Manasseh, who is the son of Joseph, the elder son in point of time, but the younger in rank and power? and very naturally, for he is so called from forgetfulness, which is a thing of equal power with an outward sense. But recol- lection is placed in the second rank, after memory, of which Kphraim is the namesake; and the interpretation of the name of Ephraim is, " bearing fruit;" and the most beautiful and nu- tritious fruit in souls is a memory which never forgets; there- fore the virgins speak to one another in a becoming manner, saying, " Our father is dead." Now the death of recollection is forgetfulness: " And he has died not for his own sin,"* speaking very righteously, for forgetfulness is not a voluntary affection, but is one of those things which are not actually in us, but which come upon us from without. And they were not his sons, but his daughters; since the power of memory, as being what has its existence by its own nature, is the parent of male children; but forgetfulness, arising from the slumber of reason, is the parent of female children, for it is destitute of reason; and the outward senses are the daughters of the irra- tional part of the soul.
But if any one has outrun him in speed, and has become a follower of Moses, though he is not yet able to keep pace with him, he will use a compound and mixed number, namely, that of five and seventy, which is the symbol of the nature which is both perceptible by the outward senses and intelligible by the intellect, the two uniting together for the production of one irreproachable species.
XXXVIII. 1 very much admire Rebecca, who is patience, because she, at that time, recommends the man who is perfect in his soul, and who has destroyed the roughnesses of the passions and vices, to flee and return to Charran; for she says, " Now, therefore, my child, hear my voice, and rise up and depart, and flee away to Laban, my brother, to Charran, and dwell with him certain days, until the anger and rage of thy * Numbers xxvii. 3.
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brother is turned from being against thee, and till he forgets what thou hast done to him."* And it is with great beauty that she here calls going by the road, which leads to the out- ward senses, a fleeing away; for, in truth, the mind is then a fugitive, when, having left its own appropriate ohjects which are comprehensible to the understanding, it turns to the oppo- site rank of those which are perceptible by the outward senses. And there are cases in which to run away is useful, wheu a person adopts this line of conduct, not out of hatred to his supe- rior, but in order to avoid the snares which are laid for him by his inferior.
What, then, is the recommendation of patience? A most admirable and excellent one. If ever, she says, you see the passion of rage and anger highly provoked and excited to fero- city either in thyself or in any one else, which is nourished by irrational and unmanageable nature, do not excite it further and make it more savage, for then perhaps it will inflict incurable wounds; but cool its fervour, and pacify its too highly intlamed disposition, for if it be tamed and rendered tractable it will do you less injury.
What, then, are the means by which it can be tamed and pacified? Having, as far as appearance goes, assumed another form and another character, follow it, first of all, wherever it pleases, and, opposing it in nothing, admit that you have the same objects of love and hatred with itself, for by these means it will be rendered propitious; and, when it is pacified, then you may lay aside your pretence, and, not expecting any longer to suffer any evil at its hand, you may with indifference return to the care of your own objects; for it is on this account that Charran is represented as full of cattle, and as having tenders of flocks for its inhabitants. For what region could be more suitable for irrational nature, and for those who have undertaken the care and superintendence of it, than the external senses which exist in us? Accordingly, when the practiser of virtue asks, "From whence come ye?'' the shepherds answer him truly, that they come "from Charran." f For the irrational powers come from the external sense, as the rational ones come from the mind. And when he further inquires whether they know Laban, they very naturally assert that they do know him, for the outward sense is acquainted with complexion and * Qenesia xxvii. 43. t Genesis xsix. 4.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 91 with every distinctive quality, as it thinks; and of complexion and distinctive qualities Laban is the symbol.
And he himself, when at last he is made perfect, will quit the abode of the outward senses, and will set up the abode of the soul as belonging to the soul, which, while still among labours and among the external senses, he gives a vivid descrip- tion of; for he says, "When shall I make myself, also, a house?" * When, disregarding the objects of the external senses and the external senses themselves, shall I dwell in mind and intellect, being, in name, going to and fro among and dwelling among the objects of contemplation, like those souls which are fond of investigating invisible objects, which it is usual to call midwives? For they also make suitable coverings and phylac- teries for souls which are devoted to virtue; but the strongest and most defensible abode was the fear of God, to those, at least, who have him for an impregnable fortress and wall. " For," says Moses, " when the midwives feared God they made themselves houses." f XXXIX. The mind, therefore, going forth out of the places which are in Charran, is said " to have travelled through the land until it came to the place of Sichem, to a lofty oak." J And let us now consider what this travelling through the land means. The disposition which is fond of learning is inquisitive and exceedingly curious by nature, going everywhere without fear or hesitation and prying into every place, and not choosing to leave anything in existence, whether person or thing, not thoroughly investigated; for it is by nature extraordinarily greedy of everything that can be seen or heard, so as not only not to be satisfied with the things of its own country, but even to desire foreign things which are established at a great dis- tance. At all events, they say that it is an absurd thing for merchants and dealers to cross the seas for the sake of gain, and to travel all round the habitable world, not allowing any considerations of summer, or winter, or violent gales, or con- trary winds, or old age, or bodily sickness, or the society of friends, or the unspeakable pleasures arising from wife, or children, or one's other relations, or love of one's country, or the enjoyment of political connections, or the safe fruition of one's money and other possessions, or, in fact, anything what- ever, whether great or small, to be any hindrance to them; and * Genesis xxx. 30. f Esodue i 21 J Genesis xii. G.
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yet for men, for the sake of that most beautiful and desirable of all possessions, the only one which is peculiar to the human race, namely, wisdom, to be unwilling to cross over every sea and to penetrate every recess of the earth, inquiring whenever they can find anything beautiful either to see or to hear, and tracing out such things with all imaginable zeal and earnest- ness, until they arrive at the enjoyment of the things which are thus sought for and desired.
Do thou then, 0 my soul, travel through the land, and through man, bringing if you think fit, each individual man to a judg- ment of the things which concern him; as, for instance, what the body is, and under what influences, whether active or passive, it co-operates with the mind; what the external sense is, and in what manner that assists the dominant mind; what speech is, and of what it becomes the interpreter so as to contribute to virtue; what are pleasure and desire; what are pain and fear; and what art is capable of supplying a remedy for these things; by the aid of which a man when infected with these feelings may easily escape, or else perhaps may never be infected at all: what folly is, what intemperance, what com- mitting injustice, what the whole multitude of other diseases, which it is the nature of all destructive vice to engender; and also what are the means by which they can be averted. And also, on the contrary, what justice is, what prudence is, and temperance, and manly courage, and deliberate wisdom, and in short what each virtue is, and what the mastery over the passions is, and in what way each of these virtues is usually produced.
Travel also through the greatest and most perfect being, namely this world, and consider all its parts, how they are separated in respect of place and united in respect of power; and also what is this invisible chain of harmony and unity, which connects all those parts; and if while considering those matters, thou canst not easily comprehend what thou seekest to know, persevere and be not wearied; for these matters are not attainable without a struggle, but they are only found out with difficulty and by means of much and great labour; on which account the man fond of learning is taken up to the field of Sichem; and the name Sichem, being interpreted means, "a shoulder," and intimates labour, since it is on the shoulders that men are accustomed to bear burdens. As Moses also mentions in another passage, when speaking of a certain, athlete he pro- ON THE MIGRATION OT ABRAHAM. 93 ceeds in this manner, " He put his shoulder to the labour and became a husbandman."* So that never, 0 my mind, do thou become effeminate and yield; but even if any thing does appear difficult to be discovered by contemplation, still opening the seeing faculties that are in thyself, look inwards and investigate existing things more accurately, and never close thy eyes whether intentionally or unintentionally; for sleep is a blind thing as wakefulness is a sharp-sighted thing. And it is well to be content if by assiduity in investigation it is granted to thee to arrive at a correct conception of the objects of thy search. Do you not see that the scripture says that a lofty oak was planted in Sichem? meaning under this figurative expression to represent the labour of instruction which never gives in, and never bends through weariness, but is solid, firm, and invincible, which the man who wishes to be perfect must of necessity exert, in order that the tribunal of the soul, by name Dinah, for the interpre- tation of the name Dinah is "judgment" may not be seized by the exertions of that man who, being a plotter against prudence, is labouring in an opposite direction.
For he who bears the same name as this place, namely Sichem, the son of Hamor, that is, of irrational nature; for the name Hamor means " an ass; " giving himself up to folly and being bred up with shamelessness and audacity, infamous man that he was, attempted to pollute and to defile the judicial faculties of the mind; if the pupils and friends of wisdom, Sichem and Levi, had not speedily come up, having made the defences of their house safe, and destroyed those who were still involved in the labour devoted to pleasure and to the indulgence of the passions and uncircumcised. For though there was a sacred scripture that, " There should be no harlot among the daughters of the seer, Israel," t these men, having rarished a virgin soul, hoped to escape notice; for there is never a scarcity of avengers against those who violate treaties; but even though some persons fancy there may be, they will only fancy it, and will in the reality of the fact be proved to entertain a false opinion.
For justice hates the wicked, and is implacable, and a relent- less avenger of all unrighteous actions, overthrowing the ranks oi those who defile virtue, and when they are overthrown, then * Genesis xlix. 15. f Genesis xxxiv. 1.
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again the soul, which before appeared to be defiled, changes and returns to its virgin state. I say, which appeared to be denied, because, in fact, it never was denied; for of invo- luntary accidents that which affects the patient is not in reality his suffering, just as what is done by a person who does wrong unintentionally, the wrong is not really his action.
A TREATISE ON THE QUESTION WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS.
I. In the treatise preceding the present one, we discussed the question of rewards to the best of our ability. Our present purpose is to examine who is the heir of the things of God; for after the wise man heard the oracle, which being divinely given, said, "Thy reward is exceedingly great;"* he inquired, saying, " What wilt thou give me, 0 master? And I shall depart childless: but my son who is the child of my handmaid will inherit after me, this Eliezer of Damascus." And in another place he says, " Since thou hast not given me any seed, but one born in my house shall be my heir." And yet who would not have been amazed at the dignity and greatness of him who delivered this oracle, so as to become silent and mute before him, if not out of fear, still at all events from excess of joy '? For excessive griefs stop the mouth, and so also do excessive joys; on which account Closes confesses that he is "a man of a slight voice and slow of speech from the time when God first began to converse with him."f And this testimony of the prophet is unerring; for it is natural for the organs of speech to be checked, and for the reason which is collected in the mind to be borne onwards with unrestrained impetuosity, philosophically examining the unceasing beauty of ideas not of wrords, with fluent and sub- lime power; and the most admirable virtues are boldness and freedom of speech at suitable times towards one's betters, so that the sentence in the comic poet appears to me to be uttered with truth rather than with comic humour: — * Genesis xv. 1. + Exodus iv. 10.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 05 If a slave is always dumb, He is scarcely worth a crumb: Let him, freely told, boldly speak.
II. When then has a slave freedom of speech towards his master? Is it not when he is conscious that he has not wronged him, but that he has done and said everything with a view to the advantage of his owner? When therefore is it proper for the servant of God to use freedom of speech to the ruler and master of himself, and of the whole word? Is it not when he is free from all sins, and is aware in his con- science that he loves his master, feeling more joy at the fact of being a servant of God, than he would if he were sovereign over the whole race of mankind, and were invested without any effort on his part with the supreme authority over land and sea. And he mentions the ministrations and services by which Abraham displayed his love to his master in the last sentence of the divine oracle given to his son, " I will give to thee and to thy seed all this land, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because Abraham thy father obeyed my voice, and kept all my precepts, and all my com- mandments, and my laws, and my judgments." * And it is the greatest possible praise of a servant that he does not neglect a single thing of the commandments which his master lays upon him, but that he labours earnestly without any hesitation and with all his vigour, and even beyond his power to perform them all with a well affected mind.
III. There are persons, then, to whom it is becoming to listen but not to speak, with respect to whom it is said, " Be silent and hear," f a very admirable injunction; for ignorance is a very bad and a very audacious thing, the first remedy for which is silence, and the second, attention to those who pre- sent you with anything worthy of your listening to. Let no one, however, think that this is all that is signified by those few words, " Be silent and hear; " but that there is also some- thing greater in them which may give a lesson to any one. For these words do not recommend you only to be silent with your tongues, and to hear with your ears, but also to conduct yourself thus in both these respects in your soul; for many persons when they have come to listen to some one, have nevertheless not come with their minds, but wander outside, * Genesis xxvi. 3. t Deuteronomy xxvii. 9.
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and keep on thinking of thousands upon thousands of tilings within themselves, whether concerning their relations, or strangers, or themselves, which at that moment they ought not to rememher at all, but which in short they, re-collecting to themselves in regular order, and thus by reason of the ex- cessive tumult which they keep alive in themselves, they are unable to hear the speaker. For he speaks as if he were not among men, but among inanimate statues who have indeed ears, but no sense of hearing.
If, therefore, the mind chooses to associate neither with things wandering about outside, nor with those which are stored up within it, but, remaining quiet and silent, directs its whole attention to the speaker, keeping silent in accordance with the injunction of Moses, it will be able to listen with all attention, but otherwise it would not be able to do so.
IV. Silence, then, is a desirable thing for those who are ignorant, but for those who desire knowledge, and who have at the same time a love for their master's freedom of speech, is a most necessary possession. Accordingly it is said, in the book of Exodus, " The Lord will fight for us, and you will be silent."* And, immediately afterwards, there is added a scripture in the following words: " And the Lord said unto Moses, Why dost thou cry unto me?" As it is proper for those persons to be silent who can say nothing worthy of being listened to, and for those to speak who, through love of wisdom, believe in God; and not only to speak quietly but to cry out with exceed- ing noise, not indeed with the noise of the mouth and tongue, by means of which they say that the air is affected with a rotatory motion, and so is rendered capable of being perceived by the hearing, but by the all-instructed and very loudly speak- ing organ of that voice of which no mortal man is the hearer, but only the uncreated and immortal God.
For the well-arranged and carefully attuned melody of that harmony which is perceptible by the intellect, the invisible musician, perceptible by the intellect, is alone able to compre- hend; but no one of those involved in the entanglements of the outward senses can appreciate it. Accordingly, when the entire organ of the mind sounds according to the symphony of the diapason and of the double diapason, the hearer, as it were, asks (for he does not ask in reality, since everything is known * Exodus xiv. 4.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 97 to God), "Why dost thou cry unto me?" Is it in supplica- tion that evils may be averted, or in thankfulness for a par- ticipation in good things which have been already enjoyed, or for a combination of both reasons?
V. But the man who appears to be endued with a thin voice, and with slowness of speech, and to be almost dumb, is nevertheless found to be talkative, so that in one place he is represented not merely as speaking, but even as crying out; and, in another, as exerting a ceaseless and uninterrupted flow of words; for, says the scripture, " Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice."* He did not speak in brief periods or sentences, but in one continuously extended speech; and God also instructed him, not in brief sentences, but gave him one unbroken and continuous answer. And whenever there is an answer, there then must of necessity have been, in every case, a question. But whenever any one puts a question it is respecting something which he does not know, because he is desirous to learn; inasmuch as he is aware that there is no- thing so useful with regard to acquiring knowledge as to ask, to inquire, to investigate, to appear to know nothing, and not to have an idea that one comprehends anything firmly.
The wise, therefore, take God for their teacher and instructor; and those who are less perfectly initiated in wisdom take the wise men for theirs. On which account they say, also, " Do thou speak with us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die."t And the virtuous man uses such freedom of speech as not only to speak and cry out, but even to advance positive claims with true confidence and genuine feeling; for the expression, "If thou forgivest them their sin, forgive them; and if not, then wipe me out of the book which thou hast written." J And this sentence also, "Did I conceive all this people in my womb? Or have I brought them forth, that thou sayest unto me, Take them up into thy bosom, as a nurse takes her sucking child. "§ And also that passage where we read, "From whence am I to get Mesh to give to all this people, because they cry unto me? Shall sheep and oxen be sacrificed, or shall all the fish of the sea be collected together, to satisfy them?" And again, " Lord, why hast thou afflicted this people?" And again, "Why hast thou sent me?" And, in another place, " From the time that * Exodus xix. 19. + Exodus xx. 19.
% Exodus xxxii. 32. § Nuinberu xi. 11.
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T went forth to speak to Pharaoh in thy name, he has afflicted the people." And again, " Thou hast not delivered thy people."* For these, and similar things, any one would have feared to say to any king of this earth; but to deliver such sentiments, and to speak freely to God, was an instance of what ought not to be called extreme audacity, but of good con- fidence; because all the wise are dear to God, and especially those who are wise with the wisdom of the most sacred giving of the law.
And freedom of speech is nearly akin to friendship; since to whom would any one speak with more freedom than to his own friend? very appropriately therefore is Moses spoken of in the scriptures as dear to God, when he goes through an account of all the dangers which he had incurred by reason of his bolduess, in such a way that they seem to deserve to be attributed to friendship rather than to arrogance; for audacity belongs to the character of the arrogant man; but good con- fidence belongs to the friend.
VI. But consider again that confidence is tempered with prudent caution; for the question, " What wilt thou give to me?'s\ displays confidence, and the addition, "0 master," exhibits prudent confidence. And being in the habit of using two causes or two appellations, with respect to the cause of all things, namely the title of Lord, and also that of God, he has in this instance used neither of them, but calls them by the name of master, speaking with caution and with exceeding propriety; and indeed the two appellations lord and master, are said to be synonymous. But even if the two names are one and the same things, still the titles differ in respect of the meaning attached to them; for the title lord,?'')Piog, is derived from the word, ytioog authority, which is a firm thing, in contra- distinction to that which is infirm and invalid, utcvsov. But the term master, dtc-roryig, is derived from dur/xbg, a chain; from which word b'sog, fear, also comes in my opinion, so that the master is a lord, and, as one may say a lord, to be feared, not only inasmuch as he has authority and dominion over every thing, but also inasmuch as he is able to strike one with fear and terror; and perhaps also since he is the master of the universe; ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 99 holding it together in such a manner as to be insoluble, and binding up again what portions of it are dissolved.
But he who says, " Master, what wilt thou give unto me? " does, in the real meaning of his words say, this, " I am not ignorant of thy overpowering might, and I know the formidable nature of thy sovereignty; I fear and tremble, and again I feel confidence; for thou hast given me an oracular command not fear, thou hast given to me the tongue of instruction, that I might know when I ought to speak; thou hast unloosened my mouth which before was sewed up, thou hast opened it, and hast also made it articulate; thou hast appointed it to utter what ought to be spoken, confirming that sacred oracle, " I will open thy mouth, and I will tell thee what thou oughtest to speak.'* * For who was I, that thou shouldest give me a portion of thy speech, that thou shouldest promise me a reward as it it were my due, namely, a more perfect blessing of thy grace and bounty? Am I not an emigrant from my country? am I not driven away from my kindred? am I not banished and alienated from my fathers house? do not all men call me an outcast and a fugitive, a desolate and dishonoured man? but thou, 0 master, art my country, thou art my kindred, thou art my paternal hearth, thou art my honour, thou art my freedom of :oh, my great, and famous, and inalienable wealth, why therefore shall I not have courage to say what- 1 think? and why shall I not ask questions, when I desire to learn something more 9