And something of the same kind appears to happen, ako, with respect to the external senses; for very frequently the eyes, hastening to come to the comprehension of something which is removed to a great distance, strain themselves, exertin gthemselves to the very fullest extent of and even beyond their power, are unsuccessful, and grow dim in the empty space between themselves and their object, wholly failing in attaining to an accurate knowledge of the subject before them, and moreover impairing and injuring their sight by the exceeding intensity of their efforts and steady ize.
And, again, sometimes when an indistinct noise is borne ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 169 towards us from a long distance, the ears are excited, and feeling as it were a fair breeze, are eager and hasten to approach nearer to it if possible, from a desire that the sound should be distinctly apprehended by the sense of hear- ing. But the noise, for it is still obscure as it seems, strikes the ear but faintly, not giving forth any more distinct tone by which it may be understood, so that the desire of com- prehending it, being unsuccessful and unsatisfied, is excited more and more, the desire causing a Tantalus-like kind of punishment.
For Tantalus, whenever he seemed about to lay his hands on any of the objects which he desired, was invariably dis- appointed, and the man who is overcome by desire, being always thirsting for what is not present, is never satisfied, wallowing about among vain appetites, like those diseases which would creep over the whole body, if they were not checked by excision or cautery, and which would overrun and seize upon the whole composition of the body, not leaving a single part in a sound state; in like manner, unless discourse in accordance with philosophy did not, like a good physician^ check the influx of appetite, all the affairs of life would of necessity be set in motion in a manner contrary to nature; for there is nothing exempt from such an affliction, nothing which can escape the dominion of passion, but, when once it has obtained immunity and license, it devours everything and becomes by itself everything in every part.
Perhaps it is a piece of folly to make a long speech upon matters which are so manifest, as to which there is no indi- vidual mnd no city that is ignorant, that they are not only every day, but even every hour, as one may say, supplying a visible proof of the truth of my assertion. Is the love of money, or of women, or of glory, or of any One of the other efficient causes of pleasure, the origin of slight and ordinary evils? Is it not owing to this passion that relationships are broken asunder, and change the good will which originates in nature into an irreconcilable enmity? And are not great countries and populous kingdoms made desolate by domestic seditions, through such causes? And are not earth and sea continually filled with novel and terrible calamities by naval battles and military expeditions for the same reason? For, both among the Greeks and barbarians, the wars between 170 PHILO JUD^US.
one another, and between their own different tribes, which have been so celebrated by tragedians, have all flowed from one source, namely, desire of money, or glory, or pleasure; for it is on such subjects as these that the race of mankind goes mad.
XXIX. However, enough of these matters. Still we must not be ignorant of this fact either, that the ten commandments are the heads of all the particular and special laws which are recorded throughout all the history of the giving of the law related in the sacred scriptures. The first law is the fountain of all those concerning the government of one supreme Ruler, and they show that there is one first cause of the world, one Ruler and King, who guides and governs the universe in such a way as con- duces to its preservation, having banished from the pure essence of heaven all oligarchy and aristocracy, those treache- rous forms of government which arise among wicked men, as the offspring of disorder and covetousness.
And the second commandment is the summary of all those laws which can possibly be enacted, about all the things made by hands, such as images and statues, and, in short, erections of any kind, of which the painters' and statuaries' arts are pernicious creators, for that command- ment forbids such images to be made, and prohibits the cleaving to any of the fabulous inventions about the mar- riage of gods and the birth of gods, and the number of in- describable and painful calamities which are represented to have ensued from both such circumstances.
By the third commandment he restrains people from taking oaths, and limits the objects for which one may swear, defining when and where it may be lawful, and who may swear, and how the swearer ought to be disposed, both in his soul and body, and many other minute particulars, concerning those who keep their oaths, and the contrary.
XXX. And the fourth commandment, the one about the seventh day, we must not look upon in any other light than as a summary of all the laws relating to festivals, and of all the purificatory rites enjoined to be observed on each of them. But the service appointed for them was one of holy ablutions, and prayers deserving to be heard, and perfect sacrifices. And in speaking of the seventh here, I mean ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 171 both that which is combined with the number six, the most generative of all numbers, and also that which, without being combined with the number six, is added to it, being made to resemble the unit, each of which numbers is reckoned among the festivals; for the lawgiver refers to the term, the sacred festival of the new moon, which the people give notice of with trumpets, and the day of fasting, on which abstinence from all meats and drinks is enjoined, which the Hebrews call, in their native language, pascha, on which the whole nation sacrifices, each individual among them, not waiting for the priests, since on this occasion the law has given, for one especial day in every year, a priest- hood to the whole nation, so that each private individual slays his own victim on this day.
And also the day on which is offered the sheaf of corn, as an offering of gratitude for the fertility and productiveness of the plain, as exhibited in the fulness of the ears of corn. And the day of pentecost, which is numbered from this day by seven portions of seven days, in which it is the custom to offer up loaves, which are truly called the loaves of the first fruits, since, in fact, they are the first fruits of the pro- ductions and crops of eatable grain, which Grod has given to mankind, as the most tractable of all his creatures.
But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned the greatest festivals, those of the longest duration, at the periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each year; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each lasting seven days; the one which takes place in the spring being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have produced.
And seven days have very appropriately been appointed to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festi- val, for the purpose of refreshing and cheering the mind with its holiday.
There are also other laws brought forward, enacted with great wisdom and excellence, conducing to the production of gentleness and fellowship among men, and inviting them to simplicity and equality; of these some have reference to 172 PHILO JUD.EUS.
that which is called the sabbatical year, in which it ia expressly commanded that the people shall leave the whole land uncultivated, neither sowing, nor ploughing, nor pre- serving the trees, nor doing any other of the works which relate to agriculture; for God thought the land, both the champaign and the mountainous country, after it had been labouring for six years in the production of crops, and the yearly yielding of its expected fruits, worthy of some relaxa- tion, for the sake of recovering its breath as it were, and that, becoming free again, if one may say so, it might exert the spontaneous riches of its own nature.
There are also other laws about the fiftieth year, in which what has been enumerated above is performed in the most complete manner; and, what is the most important thing of all, the restitution is made of the different portions of land to those families which orig'nally received them, a transac- tion full of humanity and equity.
XXXI. And the fifth commandment, that about the honour due to parents, conceals under its brief expression, many very important and necessary laws, some enacted as applicable to old and young men, some as bearing on the relations existing between rulers and subjects, others con- cerning benefactors and those who have received benefits, others affecting slaves and masters; for parents belong to the superior class of all these divisions just mentioned, the class, I mean, of elders, of rulers, of benefactors, and of masters; and children are in the inferior class, in which are ranked the younger people, the subjects, those who have received benefits, and slaves.
There are also many other commandments given, some to the young, admonishing them to receive gladly the admoni- tions of old age; others to the old, bidding them take care of the young; some to subjects, enjoining them to show obedience to their rulers; others to the rulers, commanding them to consult for the advantage of those who are under their authority; some to those who have received benefits, recommending them a requital of the favours which have been conferred on them; others to those who have set the example of beneficence, bidding them not to exact a strict restitution as if they were usurers; some to servants, encouraging them to show an affectionate service towards ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 173 their masters, others to the masters recommending them to practise that gentleness and mildness towards their slaves, by which the inequality of their respective conditions is in some degree equalised.
XXXII. The first table of five, then, is completed in these commandments, exhibiting a comprehensive character; but of the special and particular laws the number is very great.
Of the second table, the first commandment is that against adulterers, under which many other commands are conveyed by implication, such as that against seducers, that against practisers of unnatural crimes, that against all who live in debauchery, that against all men who indulge in illicit and incontinent connections; but the lawgiver has set down all the different species of such intemperance, not for the sake of exhibiting its manifold, and diverse, and ever-changing varieties, but in order to cause those who live in an unseemly manner to show most evident signs of depression and shame, drinking in with their ears all the reproaches heaped together which they incur, and which may well make them blush.
The second brief commandment, the prohibition of slaying men, is that under which are implied all those neccessary and most universally advantageous laws, relating to acts of violence, to insults, to assaults, to wounds, to mutilation.
The third, that which forbids stealing, is the one under cover of which are enacted all the regulations which have been laid down, respecting the repudiation of debts, and those who deny what has been deposited with them, and who form unhallowed partnerships, and indulge in shame- less acts of rapine, and, in short, in any kind of covetousness by which some persons are induced, either openly or secretly to appropriate the possessions of others.
The fourth, that which is concerning the duty of not bearing false witness, is one under which many other pro- hibitions are conveyed, such as that of not deceiving, of not bringing false accusations, of not co-operating with those who are committing sin, of not making a pretence of good faith a cloak for faithlessness; for all which objects suitable laws have been enacted.
The fifth is that which cuts off desire, the fountain of all iniquity, from which flow all the most unlawfnl actions, 174 PHILO JUD^US.
whether of individuals or of states, whether important or trivial, whether sacred or profane, whether they relate to one's life and soul, or to what are called external things; for, as I have said before, nothing ever escapes desire, but, like a fire in a wood, it proceeds onward, consuming and destroying everything; and there are a great many subor- dinate sins, which are prohibited likewise under this com- mandment, for the sake of correcting those persons who cheerfully receive admonitions, and of chastising those stubborn people who devote their whole lives to the indulg- ence of passion.
XXXIII. I have now spoken in this manner, at sufficient length, concerning the second table of five commandments, which make up the whole number of ten, which G-od him- self promulgated with the dignity befitting their holy character; for it was suitable to his own nature to promul- gate in his own person the heads and principles of all particular laws, but to send forth the particular and special laws by the most perfect of the prophets, whom he selected for his pre-eminent excellence, and filled with his divine spirit, and then appointed to be the interpreter of his holy oracles.
After having explained these matters, let us now proceed to relate the cause for which G-od, having pronounced these ten commandments or laws, in simple injunctions and pro- hibitions, appointed no punishment for those who should violate them, as lawgivers usually do. The reason is this: he was God, and being so he was at once the good Lord, the cause of good alone, and of no evil; therefore, thinking it most appropriate to his own nature to deliver saving com- mands unalloyed, and partaking of no punishment, so that no one yielding to a foolish counsellor might accidentally choose what is best, but might do so from wise consideration and of his own deliberate purpose, he did not think fit to give his oracles to mankind in connection with any denun- ciation of punishment; not because he meant to give immu- nity to transgressors, but because he knew that justice was sitting by him, and surveying all human affairs, and that she would never rest, as being by nature a hater of evil and looking upon the chastisement of sinners as her own most appropriate task.
ON CIRCUMCISION. 175 For it is proper for all the ministers and lieutenants of God, just as for generals in war, to put in practice severe punishments against those deserters, who forsake the ranks of the just one; but it becomes the great King, that general safety should be ascribed to him, as preserving the universe in peace, and giving at all times, to all people, in all riches and abundance, all the blessings of peace: for, in truth, God is the president of peace, but his subordinate ministers are the chiefs of war.
A TEEATISE ON CIRCUMCISION.
I. The genera and heads of all special laws, wnich are called " the ten commandments," have been discussed with accuracy in the former treatise. "We must now proceed to consider the particular commands as we read them in the subsequent passages of the holy scriptures; and we will begin with that which is turned into ridicule by people in general. The ordinance of circumcision of the parts of generation is ridiculed, though it is an act which is practised to no slight degree among other nations also, and most especially by the Egyptians, who appear to me to be the most populous of all nations, and the most abounding in all kinds of wisdom. In consequence of which it would be most fitting for men to discard childish ridicule, and to investigate the real causes of the ordinance with more pru- dence and dignity, considering the reasons why the custom has prevailed, and not being precipitate, so as without examination to condemn the folly of mighty nations, recol- lecting that it is not probable that so many myriads should be circumcised in every generation, mutilating the bodies of themselves and of their nearest relations, in a manner which is accompanied with severe pain, without adequate cause; but that there are many reasons which might encourage men to persevere and continue a custom which has been introduced by previous generations, and that these are from reasons of the greatest weight and importance.
176 PHILO JUD^US.
First of all, that it is a preventive of a painful disease, and of an affliction difficult to be cured, which they call a car- buncle;* because, I imagine, when itb ecomes inflamed it burns; from which fact it has derived that appellation. And this disease is very apt to be engendered among those who have not undergone the rite of circumcision. Secondly, it secures the cleanliness of the whole body in a way that is suited to the people consecrated to Grod; with which object the Egyptian priests, being extravagant in their case, shave the whole of their bodies; for some of these evils which ought to be got rid of are collected in and lodge under the hair and the prepuce.
Thirdly, there is the resemblance of the part that is cir- cumcised to the heart; for both parts are prepared for the sake of generation; for the breath contained within the heart is generative of thoughts, and the generative organ itself is productive of living beings.
Therefore, the men of old thought it right to make the evident and visible organ, by which the objects of the out- ward senses are generated, resemble that invisible and superior part, by means of which ideas are formed. The fourth, and most important, is that which relates to the pro- vision thus made for prolificness; for it is said that the seminal fluid proceeds in its path easily, neither being at all scattered, nor flowing on its passage into what may be called the bags of the prepuce. On which account those nations which practise circumcision are the most prolific and the most populous.
II. These considerations have come to our ears, having been discussed of old among men of divine spirit and wisdom, who have interpreted the writings of Moses in no superficial or careless manner. But, besides what has been already said, I also look upon circumcision to be a symbol of two things of the most indispensable importance.
First of all, it is a symbol of the excision of the pleasures which delude the mind; for since, of all the delights which pleasure can afford, the association of man with woman is * The Greek word is dvOpa.%, which also signifies a coal. The Latin, from which our carbuncle is derived, carbunculus, a diminutive of carlo, which also means a coal.
ON MONARCHY. i 77 the most exquisite, it seemed good to the lawgivers to mutilate the organ which ministers to such connections; by which rite they signified figuratively the excision of all superfluous and excessive pleasure, not, indeed, of one only, but of all others whatever, through that one which is the most imperious of all.
The second thing is, that it is a symbol of a man's knowing himself, and discarding that terrible disease, the vain opinion of the soul; for some men, like good statuaries, have boasted that they can make that most beautiful animal, man; and, being puffed up with arrogance, have deified them- selves, hiding from sight the true cause of the creation of all things namely, Grod, although they might have corrected that error from a consideration of other persons among whom they live; for there are among them many men who have no children, and many barren women whose connec- tions lead to nothing, so that they grow old in childlessness.
"We must therefore eradicate evil opinions from the mind, and all other ideas which are not devoted to God.
This, then, is enough to say on these subjects. But we must now turn to the special and particular laws; and first of all to those which relate to those people by whom it is well to be governed, those which have been enacted con- cerning monarchy.
A TEEATISE ON MONARCHY, BOOK I.
I. Some persons have conceived that the sun, and the moon, and the other stars are independent gods, to whom they have attributed the causes of all things that exist. But Moses was well aware that the world was created, and was like a very large city, having rulers and subjects in it; the rulers being all the bodies which are in heaven, such as planets and fixed stars; and the subjects being all the natures N ]78 PHILO JUD.EUS.
beneath the moon, hovering in the air and adjacent to the earth. But that the rulers aforesaid are not independent and absolute, but are the viceroys of one supreme Being, the Father of all, in imitation of whom they administer with propriety and success the charge committed to their care, as he also presides over all created things in strict accord- ance with justice and with law.
Others, on the contrary, who have not discovered the supreme Governor, who thus rules everything, have attri- buted the causes of the different things which exist in the world to the subordinate powers, as if they had brought them to pass by their own independent act. But the most sacred lawgiver changes their ignorance into knowledge, speaking in the following manner: " Thou shalt not, when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the host o: heaven, be led astray and fall down and worship them."* "With great felicity and propriety has he here called the re- ception of these bodies as gods, an error; for they who see that the different seasons of the year owe their existence to the advances and retreats of the sun, in which periods also the generation of animals, and plants, and fruits, are per- fected according to well-defined times, and who see also that the moon is the servant and successor of the sun, taking that care and superintendence of the world by night which the sun takes by day; and also that the other stars, in ac- cordance with their sympathy with things on earth, labour continually and do ten thousand things which contribute to the duration of the existing state of things, have been led into an inextricable error, imagining that these bodies are the only gods.
But if they had taken pains to travel along the straight and true road, they would soon have known that just as the outward sense is the subordinate minister of the mind, so in the same manner all the objects of the outward senses are servants of that which is appreciable only by intellect, being well contented if they can attain to the second place in honour. But it is altogether ridiculous to imagine that the mind, which is the smallest thing in us, being in fact invi- sible, is the ruler of those organs which belong to the external senses, but that the greatest and most perfect ruler * Deuteronomy iv. 19.
ON MONARCHY. 179 of the whole universe is not the King of kings; that the being who sees, is not the ruler of those who do not see.
"We must, therefore, look on all those bodies in the heaven, which the outward sense regards as gods, not as independent rulers, since they are assigned the work of lieutenants, being by their intrinsic nature responsible to a higher power, but by reason of their virtue not actually called to render in an account of their doings. So that, transcending all visible essence by means of our reason, let us press forward to the honour of that everlasting and invisible Being who can be comprehended and appreciated by the mind alone; who is not only the God of all gods, whether appreciable only by the intellect or visible to the outward senses, but is also the creator of them all. And if any one gives up the service due to the everlasting and uncreated Grod, transferring it to any more modern and created being, let him be set down as mad and as liable to the charge of the greatest impiety.
II. But there are some persons who have given gold and silver to sculptors and statuaries, as people able to fashion gods for them. And they, taking the lifeless materials and using a mortal model, have (which is a most extraordinary thing) made gods, as far as appearance went, and have built temples and erected altars, and dedicated them to them, honouring them with excessive pains and diligence, with sacrifices and processions, and all kinds of other sacred cere- monies and purifications; the priests and priestesses exciting themselves to the very extremity of their power to extend this kind of pride and vanity. To whom the Father of the universe thus speaks, saying: " You shall not make to your- selves gods of silver and gold;"* all but teaching them in express words, " You shall not make to yourselves any gods whatever of this or of any other material, nor shall you worship anything made with hands," being forbidden ex- pressly with respect to the two most excellent materials; for silver and gold are esteemed the most honourable of all materials.
And, besides this distinct prohibition, there is another meaning which appears to me to be intended to be figura- tively conveyed under these words, wrhich is one of very * Exodus xx. 20.
180 PHILO JUD^EUS.
great influence as contributing to the formation of the moral character, and which convicts in no slight degree those who are covetous of money and who seek to procure silver and gold from all quarters, and when they have acquired it trea- sure it up, as though it were some divine image, in their inmost shrines, looking upon it as the cause of all good things and of all happiness. And all the poor men that are possessed of that terrible disease, the love of money, but who, from not having any riches of their own which they can think worthy of their attention, fix their admiration on the wealth of their neighbours, and, for the purpose of offering adoration to it, come the first thing in the morning to the houses of those who have abundance, as if they were noble temples at which they were going to offer prayers, and to entreat blessings from their owners as if from the gods.
And to these men, Moses says, in another passage, " You shall not follow images, and you shall not make to yourselves molten gods."* Teaching them, by figurative language, that it is not right to pay such honours to wealth as one would pay to the gods; for those celebrated materials of wealth, silver and gold, are made to be used, which, however, the multitude follows, looking upon them as the only causes of wealth which is proverbially called blind, and the especial sources of happiness. These are the things which Moses calls idols, resembling shadows and phantoms, and having about them nothing strong, or trustworthy, or lasting; for they are tossed about like the unstable wind, and are subject to all kinds of variations and changes. And the greatest possible proof of this is that, when people have not at all expected it, it suddenly has descended upon them; and, again, when they fancied that they had taken firm hold of it, it has flown away.