There were two classes of ministrations concerning the temple; the higher one belonging to the priests, and the lower one to the keepers of the temple; and there were at this time three priests, but many thousand keepers of the temple. These men, being puffed up at the exceeding greatness of their own numbers, despised the scanty num- bers of the priests; and so they concerted two impious attempts at the same time, the one of which was the de- struction of those who were superior to them, and the other was the promotion of the inferior body, the subjects as it were attacking the leaders, to the confusion and overthrow of that most excellent and most beneficial thing for the peo- ple, namely order.
Then, joining together and assembling in one place, they cried out upon the prophet as if he had given the priesthood to his brother, and to his nephews, out of consideration for their relationship to him, and had given a false account of their appointment, as if it had not taken place under the 134 PHILO JUD.EUS.
134 PHILO JUD.EUS.
direction of divine providence, as we have represented. And Moses, being vexed and grieved beyond measure at these things, although he was the meekest and mildest of men, was now so excited to a just anger by his disposition, which hated iniquity, that he besought Grod to reject their sacri- fice. Not because there was any chance of that most righteous Judge receiving the unholy offerings of wicked men, but because the soul of the man who loved God could not be silent for his part, so eager was it that the wicked should not prosper, but should always fail in i;heir purpose; and while he was still boiling over and inflamed with anger by this lawful indignation he became inspired, and changed into a prophet, and uttered the following oracle?.
" Apostacy is an evil thing, but these faithless men shall be taught, not only by words but also by actions; they shall, by personal suffering, learn my truth and good faith, since they would not learn it by ordinary instruction; and this shall be discerned in the end of their life: for if they receive the ordinary death according to nature, then I have invented these oracles; but if they experience a new and unprecedented destruction, then my truth will be testified to; for I see chasms of the earth opening against them, and widened to the greatest extent, and numbers of men perish- ing in them, dragged down into the gulf with all their kin- dred, and their very houses swallowed up, and the men going down alive into hell." And when he ceased speaking the earth was cloven asunder, being shaken by an earth- quake, and it was burst open, especially where the tents of those wicked men were so that they were all swallowed up together, and so hidden from sight.
For the parts which were rent asunder came together again as soon as the purpose for which they had been divided was accomplished.
And a little after this thunderbolts fell on a sudden from heaven, and slew two hundred men, the leaders of this sedition, and destroyed them all together, not leaving any portion of their bodies to receive burial. And the rapid and unintermittent character of the punishment, and the magnitude of each infliction, rendered the piety of the pro- phet conspicuous and universally celebrated, as he thus ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 135 brought God forward as a witness of the truth of his oracu- lar denunciations. \ ' '- We must also not overlook this circumstance, that both earth and heaven, which are the first principles of the uni- verse, bore their share in the punishment of these wicked men, for they had rooted their wickedness in the earth, and extended it up to the sky, raising it to that vast height, on which account each of the elements contributed its part to their chastisement, the earth, so as to drag down and swal- low up those who were at that time weighing it down, bursting asunder and dividing; and the heaven, by tearing up and destroying them, rainiug down a mighty storm oi much fire, a most novel kind of rain, and the end was the same, both to those who were swallowed up by the earth and to those who were destroyed by the thunderbolts, for neither of them were seen any more; the one body being concealed by the earth, the chasm being united again and meeting as before, so as to make solid ground; and the other people being consumed entirely by the fire of the thunderbolts.
XXXIX. And some time afterwards, when he was about to depart from hence to heaven, to take up his abode there, and leaving this mortal life to become immortal, having been summoned by the Father, who now changed him, having previously been a double being, composed of soul and body, into the nature of a single body, transforming him wholly and entirely into a most sun-like mind; he then, being wholly possessed by inspiration, does not seem any longer to have prophesied comprehensively to the whole nation altogether, but to have predicted to each tribe separately what would happen to each of them, and to their future generations, some of which things have already come to pass, and some are still expected, because the accomplish- ment of those predictions which have been fulfilled is the clearest testimony to the future.
Tor it was very appropriate that those who were different in the circumstances of their birth and in the mothers, from whom they were descended, should differ also in the variety of their designs and counsels, and also in the excessive diversity of their pursuits in life, and should therefore have for their inheritance, as it were, a different distribution of 136 PHILO JUMUS.
136 PHILO JUMUS.
oracles and predictions. These things, therefore, are won- derful; and most wonderful of all is the end of his sacred writings, which is to the whole book of the law what the head is to an animal.
For when he was now on the point of being taken away, and was standing at the very starting-place, as it were, that he might fly away and complete his journey to heaven, he was once more inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit, and while still alive, he prophesied admirably what should happen to himself after his death, relating, that is, how he had died when he was not as yet dead, and how he was buried without any one being present so as to know of his tomb, because in fact he was entombed not by mortal hands, but by immortal powers, so that he was not placed in the tomb of his forefathers, having met with particular grace which no man ever saw; and mentioning further how the whole nation mourned for him with tears a whole month, displaying the individual and general sorrow on account of his unspeakable benevolence towards each indi- vidual and towards the whole collective host, and of the wisdom with which he had ruled them.
Such was the life and such was the death of the king, and lawgiver, and high priest, and prophet, Moses, as it is re- corded in the sacred scriptures.
A TEEATISE CONCERNING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, WHICH ARE THE HEADS OF THE LAW.
I. I have in my former treatises set forth the lives of Moses and the other wise men down to hi3 time, whom the sacred scriptures point out as the founders and leaders of our nation, and as its unwritten laws; I will now, as seems pointed out by the natural order of my subject, proceed to describe accurately the character of those laws which are recorded in writing, not omitting any allegorical meaning which may perchance be concealed beneath the plain lan- guage, from that natural love of more recondite and laborious ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 137 knowledge which is accustomed to seek for what is obscure before, and in preference to, what is evident.
And to those who raise the question why the lawgiver gave his laws not in cities but in the deep desert, we must say, in the first place, that the generality of cities are full of unspeakable evils, and of acts of audacious impiety towards the Deity, and of injustice on the part of the citizens to one another; for there is nothing w'hich is wholly free from alloy, what is spurious getting the better of what is genuine, and what is plausible of what is true; which things in their nature are false, but which suggest plausible imagina- tions to the engendering of deceit in cities; from whence also that most designing of all things, namely pride, is im- planted, which some persons admire and worship, dignifying and making much of vain opinions, with golden crowns and purple robes, and numbers of servants and chariots, on which those men who are looked upon as fortunate and happy are borne aloft, sometimes harnessing mules or horses to their chariots, and sometimes even men, who bear their burdens on their necks, through the excess of the insolence of their masters, weighed down in soul even before they faint in body.
II. Pride is also the cause of many other evils, such as insolence, arrogance, and impiety. And these are the beginnings of foreign and civil wars, allowing nothing what- ever to rest in peace in any part, whether it be public or private, by sea or by land. And why need I mention the offences of such men against one another? For even divine things are neglected by pride, even though they are gene- rally thought to be entitled to the highest honour. And what honour can there be where there is not truth also which has an honourable name and reality, since falsehood, on the other hand, is by nature devoid of honour; and the neglect of divine things is evident to those who see clearly; for they, having fashioned an infinite variety of appearances by the arts of painting and sculpture, have surrounded them with temples and shrines, and have erected altars, and adorned them with images and statues, and erections of that kind, giving celestial honours to all sorts of inanimate things, and these men the sacred scriptures very felicitously liken to men born of a harlot.
138 PHILO JUD^US.
138 PHILO JUD^US.
Eor as these men are inscribed as the children of all the jovers whom their mothers have had and call their fathers, from ignorance of the one who is by nature their real father, so also these men in cities, not knowing the truly and really existing and true God, have made deities of an innumerable host of false gods. Then, as different beings were treated with divine honours by different nations, the diversity of opinions respecting the Supreme Being, begot also disputes about all kinds of other subjects; and it was from having a regard to these facts in the first place that Moses decided on giving his laws outside of the city.
He also considered this point, in the second place, that it is indispensable that the soul of the man who is about to receive sacred laws should be thoroughly cleansed and puri- fied from all stains, however difficult to be washed out, which the promiscuous multitude of mixed men from all quarters has impregnated cities with; and this is impossible to be effected unless the man dwells apart; and even then it cannot be done in a moment, but only at a much later period, when the impressions of ancient transgressions, origi- nally deeply imprinted, have become by little and little fainter, and gradually become more and more dim, and at last totally effaced; in this manner those who are skilful in the art of medicine, save their patients; for they do not think it advisable to give food before they have removed the causes of their diseases; for while the diseases remain, food is useless, being the pernicious materials of their sufferings.
III. Yery naturally therefore, having led his people from the injurious associations prevailing in the cities, into the desert, that he might purify their souls from their offences he begun to bring them food for their minds; and what could this food be but divine laws and reasonings? The third cause is this; as men who set out on a long voyage do not when they have embarked on board ship, and started from the harbour, then begin for the first time to prepare their masts, and cables, and rudders, but, while still remain- ing on the land, they make ready everything which can conduce to the success of their voyage; so in the same manner Moses did not think it fit that his people, after they had received their inheritances, and settled as inhabitants of their cities, should then seek laws in accordance with ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 139 which they were to regulate their cities, but that, having previously prepared laws and constitutions, and being train- ed in those regulations, by which nations can be governed with safety, they should then be settled in their cities, being prepared at once to use the just regulations which were already prepared for them, in unanimity and a complete participation in and proper distribution of those things which were fitting for each person.
IV. And some persons say that there is also a fourth cause which is not inconsistent with, but as near as possi- ble to the truth; for that, as it was necessary that a convic- tion should be implanted in the minds of men that these laws were not the inventions of men, but the most indu- bitable oracles of God, he on that account, led the people as far as possible from the cities into the deep wilderness^ which was barren not only of all fruits that admitted of cultivation, but even of wholesome water, in order that, when after having found themselves in want of necessary food, and expecting to be destroyed by hunger and thirst, they should on a sudden find themselves amid abund- ance of all necessary things, spontaneously springing up around them; the heaven itself raining down upon them food called manna, and as a seasoning delicacy to that meat an abundance of quails from the air; and the bitter water being sweetened so as to become drinkable, and the precfpitous rock pouring forth springs of sweet water; then they might no longer look back upon the Nile with wonder, nor be in doubt as to whether those laws were the laws of God, having received a most manifest proof of the fact from the supplies by which they now found their scarcity relieved beyond all their previous expectations; for they would see that he, who had given them a sufficiency of the means of life was now also giving them a means which should contribute to their living well; accordingly, to live at all required meat and drink which they found, though they had never pre- pared them; and towards living well, and in accordance with nature and decorum, they required laws and enactments, by which they were likely to be improved in their minds.
V. These are the causes which may be advanced by pro- bable conjecture, to explain the question which is raised on this point; for the true causes God alone knows. But having 140 PHILO JUDjEUS.
said what is fitting concerning these matters, I shall now proceed in regular order to discuss the laws themselves with accuracy and precision: first of all of necessity, mentioning this point, that of his laws God himself, without having need of any one else, thought fit to promulgate some by himself alone, and some he promulgated by the agency of his prophet Moses, whom he selected, by reason of his pre-emi- nent excellence, out of all men, as the most suitable man to be the interpreter of his will.
Now those which he delivered in his own person by himself alone, are both laws in general, and also the heads of particular laws; and those which he promulgated by the agency of his prophet are all referred to those others; and I will explain each kind as well as I can.
And first of all, 1 will speak of those which rather resem- ble heads of laws, of which in the first place one must at once admire the number, inasmuch as they are completed in the perfect number of the decade, which contains every variety of number, both those which are even, and those which are odd, and those which are even-odd •* the even numbers being such as two, the odd numbers such as three, the even-odd such as five, it also comprehends all the varieties of the multiplication of numbers, and of those numbers which con- tain a whole number and a fraction, and of those which contain several fractional parts; it comprehends likewise all the proportions; the arithmetical, which exceeds and is exceeded by an equal number: as in the case of the numbers one, and two, and three; and the geometrical, according to which, as the proportion of the first number is to the second, the same is the ratio of the second to the third, as is the case in the numbers one, two and four; and also in multipli- cation, which double, or treble, or in short multiply figures to any extent; also in those which are half as much again as the numbers first spoken of, or one third greater, and so on.
It also contains the harmonic proportion, in accordance with which that number which is in the middle between two extremities, is exceeded by the one, and exceeds the other by an equal part; as is the case with the numbers three, four, and six.
* Liddell and Scott explain this as meaning such even numbers as become odd when divided, as 2, 6, 10, 14, &c.
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 141 The decade also contains the visible peculiar properties of the triangles, and squares, and other polygonal figures; also the peculiar properties of symphonic ratios, that of the diates- saron in proportion exceeding by one fourth, as is the ratio of four to three; that of fifths exceeding in the ratio of half as much again, as is the case with the proportion of three to two. Also, that of the diapason, where the proportion is precisely twofold, as is the ratio of two to one, or that of the double diapason, where the proportion is fourfold, as in the ratio of eight to two. And it is in reference to this fact that the first philosophers appear to me to have affixed the names to things which they have given them. For they were wise men, and therefore they very speciously called the number ten the decade (tyiv dsxdda), as being that which received every thing (wffavs/ ds^dda ouffac), from receiving (rov ds^eaSai) and containing every kind of num- ber, and ratio connected with number, and every proportion, and harmony, and symphony.
Moreover, at all events, in addition to what has been already said, any one may reasonably admire the decade for the following reason, that it contains within itself a nature which is at the same time devoid of intervals and capable of containing them. Now that nature which has no connection with inetrvals is beheld in a point alone; but that which is capable of containing intervals is beheld under three appear- ances, a line, and a superficies, and a solid. For that which is bounded by two points is a line; and that which has two dimensions or intervals is a superficies, the line being extended by the addition of breadth; and that which has three intervals is a solid, length and breadth having taken to themselves the addition of depth. And with these three nature is content; for she has not engendered more inter- vals or dimensions than these three. And the archetypal numbers, which are the models of these three are, of the point the limit, of the line the number two, and of the superficies the number three, and of the solid the number four; the combination of which, that is to say of one, and two, and three, and four completes the decade, which dis- plays other beauties also in addition to those which are visible.
For one may almost say that the whole infinity of num- 142 PHILO JUMUS.
bers is measured by this one, because the boundaries which make it up are four, namely, one, two, three, and four; and an equal number of boundaries, corresponding to them in equal proportions, make up the number of a hundred out of decades; for ten, and twenty, and thirty, and forty produce a hundred. And in the same way one may produce the number of a thousand from hundreds, and that of a myriad from thousands. And the unit, and the decade, and the century, and the thousand, are the four boundaries which generate the decade, which last number, besides what has been already said, displays also other differences of numbers, both the first, which is measured by the unit alone, of which an instance is found in the numbers three, or five, or sevea; and the square which is the fourth power, which is an equally equal number. Also the cube, which is the eighth power, which is equally equal equally, and also the perfect number, the number six, which is made equal to its compo- nent parts, three, and two, and one.
VIII. But what is the use now of enumerating the excel- lencies of the decade, which are infinite in number; treating our most important task as one of no importance, which is, indeed, of itself most all-sufficient, and worthy material for the study of those who devote themselves to mathematics?
The other points we must pass over for the present; but perhaps it may not be out of place to mention one by way of example; for those who have devoted themselves to the doctrines of philosophy say that what are called the catego- ries in nature are ten only in number, — quality, essence, quantity, relation, action, passion, possession, condition, and those two without which nothing can exist, time and place. For there is nothing which is devoid of participation in these things; as, for instance, I partake of essence, bor- rowing of each one of the elements of which the whole world was made, that is to say, of earth and water, and air and fire, what is sufficient for my own existence.
I also partake of quality, inasmuch as I am a man; and of quantity, inasmuch as I am a man of such and such a size. I also partake of relation, when any one is on my right hand or on my left. Again, I am in action when I rub or burn any thing. I am in passion when I am cut or rubbed by any one else. I am discerned as a possessor, when I am ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 143 clothed or equipped with anything. And I am seen in condi- tion, when sitting still or lying down. And I am altogether in time and place, since not one of all the categories just mentioned can exist without both these things.
IX. This, then, may be enough to say on these subjects; but it is necessary now to connect with these things what I am about to say, namely, that it was the Father of the uni- verse who delivered these ten maxims, or oracles, or laws and enactments, as they truly are, to the whole assembled nation of men and women altogether. Did he then do so, uttering himself some kind of voice? Away! let not such an idea ever enter your mind; for Glod is not like a man, in need of a mouth, and of a tongue, and of a windpipe, but as it seems to me, he at that time wrought a most conspicuous and evidently holy miracle, commanding an invisible sound to be created in the air, more marvellous than all the instru- ments that ever existed, attuned to perfect harmonies; and that not an inanimate one, nor yet, on the other hand, one that at all resembled any nature composed of soul and body; but rather it was a rational soul filled with clearness and distinctness, which fashioned the air and stretched it out and changed it into a kind of flaming fire, and so sounded forth so loud and articulate a voice like a breath passing through a trumpet, so that those who were at a great dis- tance appeared to hear equally with those who were nearest to it.
For the voices of men, when they are spread over a very long distance, do naturally become weaker and weaker, so that those who are at a distance from them cannot arrive at a clear comprehension of them, but their understanding is gradually dimmed by the extension of the sound over a larger space, since the organs also by which it is extended are perishable. But the power of God, breathing forth vigorously, aroused and excited a new kind of miraculous voice, and diffusing its sound in every direction, made the end more conspicuous at a distance than the beginning, implanting in the soul of each individual another hearing much superior to that which exists through the medium of the ears. For the one, being in some degree a slower kind of external sense, remains in a state of inactivity until it is struck by the air, and so put in motion. But the sense of 144 PHILO JUDJSUS.
the inspired mind outstrips that, going forth with the most rapid motion to meet what is said.
X. This, then, may be enough to say about the divine voice. But a person may very reasonably raise the question on what account it happened, when there were so vast a number of myriads of men collected into one place that Moses chose to deliver each of the ten commandments in such a form as if they had been addressed not to many persons but to one, saying:— Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not kill* And giving the other commandments in the same form.
We must say, therefore that he is desirous here to teach that most excellent lesson to those who read the sacred scriptures, that each separate individual by himself when he is an observer of the law and obedient to Grod, is of equal estimation with a whole nation, be it ever so populous, or I might rather say, with all the nations upon earth. And if I were to think fit I might proceed further and say, with all the world; because in another passage of the scriptures God, praising a certain just man, says, " I am thy Grod."f But the same being was also the Grod of the world; so that all those who are subject to him are arranged according to the same classification, and, if they be equally pleasing to the supreme Governor of them all, they partake of an equal acceptance and honour.
And, secondly, we must say that any one addressing him- self to an assembly in common as to a multitude is not bound to speak as if he were conversing with a single individual, but sometimes he commands or forbids a thing in a particular manner in such a way that whatever he commands does at once appear requisite to be done by every one who hears him, and does also seem to be commanded to the whole col- lective multitude together; for the man who receives an admonition as if addressed to himself personally is more in- clined to obey it; but he who hears it as if it were only directed to him in common with others is, to a certain degree, rendered deaf to it, making the multitude a kind of veil and excuse for his obstinacy.
* Exodus xx. 13. t Genesis xvii. 1.
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 145 A third view of the question is, that no king or tyrant may ever despise an obscure private individual, from being full of insolence and haughty pride; but that such an one, coming as a pupil to the school of the sacred laws, may relax his eyebrows, unlearning his self-opinionativeness, and yielding rather to true reason. For if the uncreated, and immortal, and everlasting God, who is in need of nothing and who is the maker of the universe, and the benefactor and King of kings, and God of gods, cannot endure to overlook even the meanest of human beings, but has thought even such worthy of being banqueted in sacred oracles and laws, as if he were about to give him a love-feast, and to prepare for him alone a banquet for the refreshing and expanding of his soul in- structed in the divine will and in the manner in which the great ceremonies ought to be performed, how can it be right for me, who am a mere mortal, to hold my head up high and to allow myself to be puifed up, behaving with insolence to my equals wThose fortunes may, perhaps, not be equal to mine, but whose relationship to me is equal and complete, inasmuch as they are set down as the children of one mother, the common nature of all men?
I will, therefore, behave myself in an affable, and courteous, and conciliatory manner to all men, even if I should obtain the dominion over the whole earth and the whole sea, and especially to those who are in the greatest difficulties and of the least reputation, and who are destitute of all assistance from kindred of their own, to those who are orphaned of either or of both their parents, to women who have expe- rienced widowhood, and to old men who have either never had any children at all, or who have lost at an early age those who have been born to them; for, inasmuch as I my- self am a man, I will not think it right to cherish a pompous and tragedian-like dignity of manner, but I will keep myself within my nature, not transgressing its boundaries, but accustoming my mind to bear human events with compla- cency and equanimity. Not only because of the unforeseen changes by which things of one character assume a different appearance, both in the case of those in prosperity and of those who are in adversity, but also because it is becoming, even if prosperity were to remain unaltered and unshaken that a man should not forget himself.
VOL. Ill L 146 PHILO JUD.EUS.