to bring your friend? And if you do so, will you do it knowing that he sees everything and hears everything, or not knowing this fact? If you know it not you are an atheist, and atheism is the beginning of all iniquity, and, in addition to your atheism, you are also adding the wicked- ness of an oath, by swearing by him who in your opinion is not attending to you, nor paying any regard to human iTT/iirs But if you are well assured that he does exert his provi- dence in respect of such matters, still you are not free from the charge of excessive impiety, saying to God, if not with your mouth and tongue, still at all events with your con- science: Bear false witness for me, aid me in my wickedness, assist me in my impiety. I have but one hope of preserving a fair reputation among men, namely by concealing the truth; be thou wicked for another's sake, you Who are the better, for the sake of one who is worse; you who are God, the most excellent of all beings, for the sake of a man, and that too a wicked one.
XIX. But there are also some people who, without any idea of acquiring gain, do from a bad habit incessantly and inconsiderately swear upon every occasion, even when there is nothing at all about which any doubt is raised, as if they were desirous to fill up the deficiency of their argument with oaths, as if it would not be better to cut their conversation short, or I might rather say to utter nothing at all, but to preserve entire silence, for from a frequency of oaths arises a habit of perjury and impiety. On ^vhich account the man who is going to take an oath ought to investigate everything with care and exceeding accuracy, considering whether the subject is of serious importance, and whether it has really taken place, and whether, if it has, he has compre- hended it properly; and considering himself, also, whether he is pure in soul, and body, and tongue, having the first free from all violation of the law, the second from all defile- ment, and the last from all blasphemy.
Tor it is an impiety for any disgraceful words to be uttered by that mouth by which the most sacred name is also mentioned. Let him also consider whether the place and the time are suitable; for before now I have known 158 PHILO JUDJ3US.
some persons, in profane and impure places (in which it is not fitting that mention should be made of either their father or their mother, or of even any old man among their kindred who may have lived a virtuous life), swearing, and stringing together whole sentences full of oaths, using the name of Grod with all the variety of titles which belong to him, when they should not, out of sheer impiety.
And let him who pays but little heed to what has been said here know, in the first place, that he is impure and defiled; and, in the second place, that the most terrible punishments are constantly lying in wait for him; that jus- tice who keeps her eye upon all human affairs, being impla- cable and inflexible towards all enormities of such a character; and, when she docs not think fit to inflict her punishments at once, still exacting satisfaction with abundant usury whenever the opportunity seems to offer in combination with the general advantage.
XX. The fourth commandment has reference to the sacred seventh day, that it may be passed in a sacred and holy manner. Now some states keep the holy festival only once in the month, counting from the new moon, as a day sacred to Grod; but the nation of the Jews keep every seventh day regularly, after each interval of six days; and there is an account of events recorded in the history of the creation of the world, comprising a sufficient relation of the cause of this ordinance; for the sacred historian says, that the world was created in six days, and that on the seventh day Grod desisted from his works, and began to contemplate what he had so beautifully created; therefore, he commanded the beings also who were destined to live in this state, to imitate God in this particular also, as well as in all others, applying themselves to their works for six days, but desisting from them and philosophising on the seventh day, and devoting their leisure to the contemplation of the things of nature, and considering whether in the preceding six days they have done anything which has not been holy, bringing their conduct before the judgment-seat of the soul, and sub- jecting it to a scrutiny, and making themselves give an account of all the things which they have said or done; the laws sitting by as assessors and joint inquirers, in order to ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 159 the correcting of such errors as have been committed through carelessness, and to the guarding against any similar offences being hereafter repeated.
But God, on one occasion, employed the six days for the completion of the world, though he had no need of any length of time for such a purpose; but each man, as partak- ing of a mortal nature, and as being in need of ten thousand things for the unavoidable necessities of life, ought not to hesitate, even to the end of his life, to provide himself with all requisites, always allowing himself an interval of rest on the sacred seventh day. Is it not a most beautiful recom- mendation, and one most admirably adapted to the perfect- ing of, and leading man to, every virtue, and above all to piety? The commandment, in effect says: Always imitate God; let that one period of seven days in which God created the world, be to you a complete example of the way in which you are to obey the law, and an all-sufficient model for your actions.
Moreover, the seventh day is also an example from which you may learn the propriety of studying philosophy; as on that day, it is said, God beheld the works which he had made; so that you also may yourself contemplate the works of nature, and all the separate circumstances which con- tribute towards happiness.
Let us not pass by such a model of the most excellent ways of life, the practical and the contemplative; but let us always keep our eyes fixed upon it, and stamp a visible image and representation of it on our own minds, making our mortal nature resemble, as far as possible, his immortal one, in respect of saying and doing what is proper. And in what sense it is said that the world was made by God in six days, who never wants time at all to make anything, has been already explained in other passages where we have treated of allegories.
XXI. Now, those who have applied themselves to mathe- matical studies, fully explain the precedence and pre-emi- nence to which the number seven is entitled among all existing things, tracing it out with great care and exceeding minuteness and accuracy; for among numbers seven is the virgin number, the nature which has no mother, that which is most nearly related to the unit, the foundation of all 160 PHILO JUD^EUS.
numbers; the idea of the planets, just as the unit is of the immovable sphere; for of the unit and the number seven consists the incorporeal heaven, the model of the visible heaven, and the heaven is made up of indivisible and divi- sible nature. Now, indivisible nature has assigned to it the first, and highest, and immovable circumference, which the unit inspects and overlooks; but the divisible nature has received that circumference which is inferior both in power and in arrangement, which the number seven inspects, which, being divided into six parts, has produced what are called the "seven planets; not indeed that any of the heavenly bodies do really wander (<7rs<7rXdvr}ra/), inasmuch as they all enjoy a divine, and happy, and blessed nature, to all of which characteristics a freedom from wandering is most closely akin: at all events, they always preserve a kind of identity in a constantly similar motion, and pass a long eternity without ever admitting any change or variation whatever. But because they revolve in a manner contrary to the indivisible and outermost sphere, they have been named planets (flrXavjjreg), though without any strict propriety, by- men speaking at random, who have by such language attributed their own propensity to wander to the heavenly bodies, which, in fact, never quit that position in the divine lamp in which they have been originally placed. For all these reasons, and more besides, the number seven is honoured. But there is no one cause on account of which it has received its precedence so completely, as because it is by its means that the Creator and Father of the universe is most especially made manifest; for the^mind ^behQlfl&ffixL in this as in a mirror, acting, and creating the world, and maliagnl^the-'whoie' 'universe.
XXII. And after this commandment relating to the seventh day he gives the fifth, which concerns the honour to be paid to parents, giving it a position on the confines ot the two tables of five commandments each; for being the concluding one of the first table, in which the most sacred duties to the Deity are enjoined, it has also some connection with the second table which comprehends the obligations towards our fellow creatures; and the cause of this, I imagine, is as follows: The nature of one's parents appears to be something on ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 161 the confines between immortal and mortal essences. Of mortal essence, on account of their relationship to men and also to other animals, and likewise of the perishable nature of the body. And of immortal essence, by reason of the similarity of the act of generation to God the Father of the universe. But it has often happened that men have attached themselves to one of these divisions, and have seemed to neglect the other; for being filled with a sincere love for piety, they have renounced all other occupations and con- siderations, and have devoted the whole of their lives to the service of God.
But they who have thought that beyond their duties to their fellow men there was no such thing as goodness, have clung solely to their fellowship with and to the society of men, and, being wholly occupied by a love of the society of men, have invited all men to an equal participation in all their good things, labouring at the same time to the best of their power to alleviate all their disastfkrs. Now, one may properly call both these latter, these philanthropic men, and also the [ former class, the lovers of God, but half perfect in virtue; for those only are perfect who have a good reputation in both points: but those who do not attend to their duties towards men so as to rejoice with them at their common blessings, or to grieve with them at events of a contrary character, and who yet do not devote themselves to piety and holiness towards God, may be thought to have changed into the nature of wild beasts, the very pre-eminence among whom, in point of ferocity, those are entitled to who neglect their parents, being hostile to both the divisions of virtue above mentioned, namely, piety towards God, and their duty towards men.* XXIII. Let them, then, not be ignorant that they are convicted before the two tribunals which are the only ones which exist in nature, of impiety as regards their duty towards God, as not worshipping those who have introduced beings who do not exist into existence, and who, in this respect, have imitated God; and as regards their duty towards men, of misanthropy and cruelty. For to whom else will those men do good who neglect their nearest relations and and those who have bestowed the greatest gifts upon them, some of which are of so great a character that they do not VOL. III. M 162 PfllLO JUD^US.
admit of any requital? For how can he who has been be- gotten by a parent, in requital again beget his parents, since nature has bestowed on parents this especial endow- ment in respect of their children, which can never be requited or recompensed? On which account it is becoming to a man to feel exceeding indignation when people, because they are unable to make a full return for the benefits which they have received, do not choose to make the very slightest; to whom I might say, with perfect propriety, that wild beasts even must be made tame towards men; and, indeed, I have frequently known instances of lions being domesti- cated, and bears and leopards, and made gentle, not only to those who feed them, by reason of their gratitude for neces- saries, but also to others, on account, in my opinion, of their resemblance to their feeders.
For it is alwavs well that what is worse should follow what is better, from a hope of deriving improvement; but in this case I shall be constrained to use an entirely oppo- site language. You who are men, are imitators of some wild beasts. Even the beasts have learnt and know how to requite with service those who have done them service. Dogs who keep the house will defend their masters, and encounter death for their sakes when any danger suddenly overtakes them. And they say that the dogs employed among flocks of sheep will fight on behalf of the flocks, and endure till they either obtain the victory or meet with death, for the sake of protecting the shepherds themselves from injury.
Is it not then the most shameful of all shameful things for a man, in respect of the requital of favours, to be left behind by a dog, for that being, which of all others is the most gentle, to be outrun by the most audacious of beasts? But if we will not be taught by the land animals, let us go across to the nature of the winged birds which traverse the air, and learn what we have need of from them.
In the case of storks the old birds remain in their nests because they are unable to fly; but their children, I had very nearly said, traverse the whole of earth and sea, and from all quarters provide their parents with what is neces- sary for them. And so they, living in a tranquillity worthy of their time of life, enjoy all abundance, and pass their old age in luxury; while their children make light of all the ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 163 hardships they undergo to furnish them with the means of support, under the influence both of piety and also of the expectation that they also in their old age will receive the same treatment from their descendants; and so they now dis- charge the indispensable debt which they owe their parents, knowing that in proper time, they will themselves receive what they are now bestowing. And there are also others who are unable to support themselves, for children are no more able to do so at the commencement of their existence than their parents are at the end of their lives. On which account the children, having while young been fed in accordance with the spontaneous promptings of nature, now with joy do in return support the old age of their parents.
Is it not right, then, after these examples, that men who neglect their parents should cover their faces from shame, and reproach themselves for disregarding those things which they ought to have cared for alone, or in preference to any thing else whatever? And this too, when they would not have been so much conferring benefits as requiting them? Eor the children have nothing of their own which does not belong to the parents, who have either bestowed it upon them from their own substance, or have enabled them to acquire it by supplying them with the means.
And have then these men within the borders of their souls piety and holiness, the chiefs of all the virtues? No; rather they have driven them beyond their borders, and forced them into exile; for parents are the servants of God for the propagation of children, and he who dishonours the servant dishonours also the master. But some persons, who are rather audacious, magnify the title of parents, saying that the father and mother are evident gods, inasmuch as they imitate the uncreated God in their production of living ani- mals, limiting, however, their assertion in this way, that the one is the God of the whole world, but the others only of those children whom they have begotten. And it is impos- sible that the invisible God can be piously worshipped by those people who behave with impiety towards those who are visible and near to them.
XXIV. Having then now philosophized in this manner about the honour to be paid to parents, he closes the one and more divine table of the first five commandments.
And being about to promulgate the second which contains the prohibitions of those offences which are committed against men, he begins with adultery, looking upon this as the greatest of all violations of the law; for, in the first place, it has for its source the love of pleasure, which enervates the bodies of those who indulge in it, and relaxes the tone of the soul, and destroys the essences of it, consuming every thing that it touches, like unquenchable fire, and leaving nothing which affects human life uninjured, inasmuch as it not only persuades the adulterer to commit iniquity, but also teaches him to join others in wickedness, making an association in things in which there ought to be no such par- ticipation. Tor when this violent passion seizes on a man it is impossible for the appetites to arrive at the accomplish- ment of their object by one person alone, but it is indispen- sable that two should share in the action, the one taking the place of the teacher, and the other that of the pupil, for the complete confirmation of those most disgraceful evils, intem- perance and licentiousness.
Nor can one allege as an excuse that it is only the body of the woman who is committing adultery that is corrupted^ but, if one must tell the truth, even before the corruption of the body the soul is accustomed to alienation from virtue, being taught in every way to repudiate and to hate its hus- band. And it would be a less grievous evil if this hatred were displayed without disguise; for it is easiest to guard against what is plainly seen. But at present it is with difficulty suspected, and difficult of detection, being con- cealed by cunning and wicked arts, and at times it assumes the contrary appearance of love and affection, by means of its trickery and deceit.
Accordingly, adultery exhibits the destruction of three houses by its means; that of the house of the man who sus- tains the violation of all the vows which were made to him at his marriage, and the loss of all the hopes of legitimate children, of which he is now deprived; and two others, namely, the house of the adulterer, and that of his wife. For each of these is filled with insolence, and dishonour, and the most excessive disgrace. And if their connections and families are very numerous, then by reason of their inter- marriages and the mutual connections formed with different ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 165 houses the iniquity and injury will proceed and infect the whole city all around. Moreover, the doubt as to the legi- timacy of the children is a most terrible evil.
For if the wife be not chaste, it is quite a matter of doubt and uncertainty to what father the children belong. And then, if the matter remain undiscovered, the children of adultery enter unjustly into the classification of legitimate children, and make a race spurious to which they have no pretensions to belong, and receive an inheritance which in appearance indeed is their own patrimony, but which in reality has no connection with them. And then the adul- terer, behaving with insolence and pluming himself upon his iniquity in having propagated an offspring full of reproach, when he has satiated his appetites will depart, leaving the object behind him, and turning into ridicule the ignorance that exists of the unholy wickedness which he has commit- ted, on the part of the man against whom he has sinned.
And the husband, like a blind man, knowing nothing of what has been going on in his own house, will be compelled to nourish and to cherish as his own the offspring sprung from his greatest enemies. And it is plain that if such a wickedness takes place, the most miserable of all persons must be the wretched children, who have done no wrong themselves, and who cannot be assigned to either family, neither to that of the husband of the adulteress, nor to that of the adulterer. Since, then, illicit cohabitation produces such great calamities, adultery is very naturally a detestable thing hated by God, and has been set down as the first of all transgressions.
XXV. The second commandment of this second table is to do no murder. For nature, having produced man as a gregarious and sociable creature, and the most easily domes- ticated of all animals, has invited it to a fellowship of opi- nion and partnership, giving him reason, as a means to lead to a harmony and admixture of dispositions. And he who slays any man must not be ignorant that he is overturning the laws and ordinances of nature, which have been beauti- fully established for the common advantage of all men. Moreover, let him be aware that he is liable to the charge of sacrilege as having plundered the most sacred of all the possessions of God; for what is a more venerable or more 1G6 PHILO JUDiEUS.
1G6 PHILO JUDiEUS.
sublime offering to God than man? For gold, and silver, and precious stones, and all such other valuable materials, are only an inanimate ornament of inanimate erections; but man, who is the most excellent of all animals, in respect of that predominant part that is in him, namely, his soul, is also most closely related to the heaven, which is the purest of all things in its essence, and as the common language of the multitude affirms, to the Father of the world, inasmuch as he has received mind, which is of all the things that are upon the earth the closest copy and most faithful represen- tation of the everlasting and blessed idea.
XXVI. The third commandment of the second table of five is not to steal. For he who keeps continually gaping after the property of others is the common enemy of the city, since, as far as his inclination goes, he would deprive all "men of their property; and in respect of his power he actually does deprive some, because his covetousness is extended to the greatest imaginable length, and because his impotence, coming too late after it, is contracted into a small space, and can scarcely extend so as to overtake more than a few.
Therefore as many robbers as have the strength to do so plunder whole cities, paying no attention to the punishments with which they are threatened, because they appear to themselves to be superior to the laws. These are those men who are oligarchical in their natures, who have set their hearts on tyrannies and absolute power, who commit enor- mous theft's, concealing their robbery, as it is in reality, under the specious and imposing names of authority and supremacy.
Let every one then learn from his earliest infancy, never privily to steal anything that belongs to any one else, not even though it may be the merest trifle, because the habit, when it becomes inveterate, is more powerful than nature; and small things, if they are not checked, increase and grow, becoming gradually greater and greater till they reach a for- midable magnitude.
XXVII. And after he has forbidden stealing he proceeds in regular order to prohibit bearing false witness, knowing that those who bear false witness are liable to many great accusations, and in short to every kind of terrible charge; ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 167 for in the first place they are corrupting that holy thing, truth, than which there is no more sacred possession among men, which like the sun sheds a light upon all things, so that not one of them may be kept in darkness; and in the second place, in addition to speaking falsely, they also as it were envelop facts in night and dense darkness, and they co-operate with those who offend, and they join in attacking those who are injured by others, affirming that they positively know and have completely comprehended what they in reality have not seen nor heard, and of which they know nothing.
Moreover, they also commit a third violation of the law, which is more grievous than either of those which have been mentioned before; for, when there is a scarcity of demon- strations, either by reasons or by letters, then those who have questions in dispute betake themselves to witnesses, •whose words are rules to the judges concerning those matters on which they are to deliver their opinion; for it is necessary for the judges to attend to them alone, when there is nothing else existing which can contribute to proof in the matter in question; from which it arises that those who are borne down by evidence in this way meet with in- justice when they might have won their cause, and that those who attend to the false witnesses are recorded as un- just and illegal judges, instead of just and legal ones.
Moreover, this kind of crafty wickedness outstrips all other offences in its impiety; for it is not customary for judges to decide without being sworn, but rather after having taken the most fearful oaths, which those men trans- gress who deceive others, more than they do who are deceived by them, since the error of the one is not inten- tional, but the others do deliberately plot against them, and do of malice aforethought sin, persuading those in whose power it is to give the decisive vote to err, not knowing what they do, so that things which deserve no chastisement meet with punishment and loss.
XXVIII. Last of all, the divine legislator prohibits covetousness, knowing that desire is a thing fond of revolu- tion and of plotting against others; for all the passions of the soul are formidable, exciting and agitating it contrary to nature, and not permitting it to remain in a healthy state, 168 PHILO JUD.EUS.
168 PHILO JUD.EUS.
but of all such passions the worst is desire. On which account each of the other passions, coming in from without and attacking the soul from external points, appears to be involuntary; but this desire alone derives its origin from ourselves, and is wholly voluntary. But what is it that I am saying? The appearance and idea of a present good, or of one that is accounted such, rouses up and excites the soul which was previously in a state of tranquillity, and raises it to a high degree of elation, like a light suddenly flashing before the eyes; and this passion of the soul is called pleasure.
But the contrary to good is evil, which, when it forces its way in, and inflicts a mortal wound, immediately fills the soul against its v/ill with depression and despondency; and the name of the passion is sorrow. But when the evil presses upon the soul, when it has not as yet taken up its habitation in it, but when it is only impending, being about to come and to agitate it, it sends before it agitation and suspense, as express messengers, to fill the soul with alarm; and this passion is denominated fear. And when any one, having conceived an idea of some good which is not present, hastens to lay hold of it, he then drives his soul forward to a great distance, and extending it in the greatest possible degree, from his anxiety to attain the object of his desires, he is stretched as it were upon the rack, being anxious to lay hold of the thing, but being unable to reach it, and being in the same condition with those who are pursuing people who are running away, following with an inferior speed, but with unrivalled eagerness.