The Works of Philo Judaeus

XVIII. " Now the serpent was the most subtle of all the H beasts which are upon the earth, which the Lord God made." Two things having been previously created, that is, mind and outward sense, and these also having been stripped naked in the manner which has already been shown, it follows of necessity that pleasure, which brings these two together, must be the third, for the purpose of facilitating the comprehension of the objects of intellect and of outward sense : for neither could the mind, without the outward sense, be able to comprehend the nature of any animal or of any plant, or of a stone or of a piece of wood, or, in short, of any substance whatever ; nor could the outward sense exercise its proper faculties without the mind. Since, therefore, it was necessary for both these things to come together for the due comprehension of these objects, what was it which brought them together except a third something which acted as a bond between them, the two first representing love and desire, and pleasure not obtaining the dominion and mastery, which pleasure Moses here speaks of symbolically, under the emblem of the serpent. God, who created all the animals on the earth, arranged this order very admirably, for he placed the mind first, that is to say, man, for the mind is the most important part in man ; then outward sense, that is the woman ; and then proceeding in regular order he came to the third, pleasure. But the powers of these three, and their ages, are different only in the night, for in point of time they are equal ; for the soul brings forward everything at the same moment with itself: but some things it brings forward in their actuality, and others in their power of existing, even if they have not yet arrived at the end. And pleasure has been represented under the form of the serpent, for this reason, as the motion of the serpent is full of many windings and varied, so also is the motion of pleasure. At first it folds itself round a man in five ways, for the pleasures consist both in seeing, and in hearing, and in taste, and in smell, and in touch. But the most vehement and intense are those which arise from connection with woman, through which the generation of similar beings is appointed by nature to be effected. And yet this is not the only reason why we say that pleasure is various in appearance, namely, because it folds itself around all the divisions of the irrational part of the Genesis iii. 1. soul, but because it also folds itself with many windings around each separate part. For instance, the pleasures derived from sight are various, there is all the pleasure which arises from the contemplation of pictures or statues ; and all other works which are made by art delight the sight. So also do the different stages through which plants go while budding and flowering and bearing fruit ; and likewise the diversified beauty of the different animals. In the same manner the flute gives pleasure to the sense of hearing, as does the harp, and every kind of instrument, and the harmonious voices of the irrational animals, of swallows, of nightingales ; and likewise the melody of such rational beings as nature has made musical, the tuneful voice of the harp-players, and of those who represent comedy, or tragedy, or any other histrionic performance.

XXVI. And we must also inquire, what is the reason why Jacob Bays, that " the rider will fall backward," and Moses says, that " the horse and his rider have been thrown into the sea." We must say, therefore, that that which is thrown into the sea is the Egyptian disposition, which indeed flies and escapes under the water, that is to say, under the advance of the passions. But the rider who falls backwards is not one of the persons who loves to yield to the passions ; and the proof is, that Moses calls the one the horseman (iTr-svg), and the other tbe rider (uvuftarr^). Now it is the business of the horseman to subdue the horse, and when he resists the rein to make him tractable ; but it is the part of the rider to be conveyed wherever the animal carries him, and in the sea it is the office of the pilot to guide the ship, and to keep it straight, and to preserve it in the right course ; but it is the part of the sailor to endure all that happens to the ship. And in reference to this the horseman who subdues the passions is not drowned in the sea, but dismounting from them awaits the salvation of the master. Accordingly, the word of God in Leviticus recommends men " to feed on those creeping things which go on four feet, and which have legs above their feet, so that they are able to leap with them:"f among which are the locust, and the attacus, and the acris,J and in tbe fourth place the serpent-fighter ; and very properly ; for if pleasure, like a serpent, is an unprofitable and pernicious thing, then the nature which contends against pleasure must be a most profitable and saving thing, and this is temperance. Fight thou then, 0 my mind, against every passion, and especially against pleasure, for " the serpent is the most subtle of all the beasts that are upon the earth, which the Lord God has made." And of all the passions the most mischievous is pleasure. Why so? Because all things are the slaves of pleasure ; and because the life of the wicked is governed by pleasure as by a master. Accordingly, the things which are the efficient causes of pleasure are found to be full of all wickedness : gold and silver, and glory and honours, Genesis xlix. 17. f Leviticus xi. 22. % These are different kinds of locusts. ON THE ALLEGORIES OF THE SACRED LAWS. ] 07 and powers and the objects of the outward senses, and the mechanical arts, and all other things which cause pleasure, being very various, and all injurious to the soul; and there are no sins without extreme wickedness ; therefore do thou array against it the wisdom which contends with serpents ; and struggle in this most glorious struggle, and labour to win the crown in the contest against pleasure, which subdues every one else; winning a noble and glorious crown, such as no assembly of men can confer. THE THIRD BOOK OF THE TREATISE ON THE ALLEGORIES 0E THE SACKED LAWS, AFTER THE WORK OF THE SIX DAYS OF THE CREATION.

I. "And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the Paradise." A doctrine is introduced here which teaches us that the wicked man is inclined to run away. For the proper city of wise men is virtue, and he who is incapable of becoming a partaker in that is driven from his city ; and no bad man is capable of becoming a partaker of it; therefore the bad man alone is driven away and becomes a banished man. But he who is banished from virtue is at once concealed from the face of God, for if the wise men are visible to God, inasmuch as they are dear to liim, it follows plainly that the wicked are all concealed from him, and enveloped in darkness, as being enemies and adversaries to right reason. Xow that the wicked man is destitute of a city and destitute of a home, Moses testifies in speaking of that hairy man who was also a man of varied wickedness, Esau, when he says, " But Esau was skilful in hunting, and a rude man."t For it is not natural for vice which is inclined to be subservient to the passions to inhabit the city of virtue, inasmuch as it is devoted to the pursuit of rudeness and ignorance, with great folly. But Jacob, who is full of wis- Genesis viii. 8. + Genesis xxv. 27. dom, is both a citizen and one who dwells in a house, that is to say, in virtue. Accordingly Moses says of him, " But Jacob is a man without guile, dwelling in a house ; " On which account also " the mid wives, since they feared God made themselves houses. "• For they, being inclined to seek out the secret mysteries of God, one of which was that the male children should be preserved alive, build up the actions of virtue, in which they had previously determined to dwell. Accordingly, in this account it is shown how the wicked man is destitute of a city and destitute of a home : inasmuch as he is an exile from virtue, but that the virtuous man has a city and is allotted a home, namely wisdom.

XV. " For the hands of Moses are heavy. " For since the actions of the wicked man are like the wind and light, those of the wise man on the other hand are heavy and immoveable, and not easily shaken ; in reference to which his hands are held up by Aaron, who is reason, or by Ur, who is light. Now of all existing things there is nothing clearer than the truth ; therefore Moses intends here to signify by a symbolical form of expression, that the actions of the wise man are supported by the most necessary of all qualities, reason and truth. On this account also, when Aaron dies, that is to say. when the truth is completely asserted, he ascends up to Ur,t that is to say, to Light ; for the proper end of reason is truth, which is more visible than any light, and to it reason is always striving to come. Do you not see that also when he received the tabernacle from God, and this tabernacle is wisdom, in which the wise man tabernacles and, dwells, he fixed it firmly and founded and built it up strongly, not in the body but out of it ; for he likens this to an encampment, to a camp I say full of wars and of all the evils which war causes, and which has no portion with peace. " And it was called the tabernacle of testimony ;"J that is to say wisdom was borne witness to by God. For every one who seeks the Lord went forth out of his house. And this is well said. For if you seek God, 0 my mind, go forth out of yourself, and so seek for him ; but if you remain in the substance of the body, or in the vain opinions of the mind, you are then without any real wish to search into divine things, even if you do put on the appearance and pretence of seeking them. If when you search you will find God, is uncertain ; for there have been many persons to whom he has not revealed himself, but they have expended a vain labour all their time. But the mere act of seeking for him is sufficient to entitle you to a participation in good things, for the desire for what Exodu3 xvii. 12. f Numbers xx. 25. J Exodus xxxiii. 7. is good, even if it fails in attaining the end which it seeks, does at all events always gladden the heart of those who cherish it. Thus the wicked man who flees from virtue, and who seeks to conceal himself from God, flees to a powerless ally, that is his own mind, hut the good man on the contrary seeking to escape from himself turns to the knowledge of the one God, and is victorious in the honourable race, and in that contest which is of all the most excellent. 16. "And the Lord God called Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?" Why now is Adam, alone called, when his wife also was concealed together with him ? In the first place we must say that the mind is summoned, and asked where it is. When it is converted, and reproved for its offence, not only is it summoned itself but all its faculties are also summoned, for without its faculties the mind by itself is found to be naked, and to be absolutely nothing, and one of its faculties is also the outward sense, that is to say the woman. The woman therefore, that is the outward sense is also summoned together with Adam, that is the mind, but separately God does not summon her. Why not? Because being destitute of reason she is incapable of being convicted by herself. For neither can sight, nor hearing, nor any one of the other external senses be taught, and moreover none of them are capable of receiving the comprehension of things; for the Creator has not made them capable of distinguishing anything but bodies only. But the mind is able to receive teaching : on account of which fact God calls that, but not the external senses. 17. And the expression "Where art thou? "admits of being interpreted in many ways. In the first place it may be taken not as an interrogation, but as an affirmation, equivalent to the words " You are somewhere," if you alter the accent on the particle tou "where." For, since you have thought that God was walking in the garden, and was surrounded by it, learn now that in this you were mistaken, and hear from God who knows all things that most true statement that God is not in any one place. For he is not surrounded by anything, but he does himself surround everything. For that which is created Genesis in. 9. is in place; for it is inevitable that it must be surrounded, and not be the thing which surrounds. In the second place, that which is said is equivalent to this, Where hast thou been, 0 soul ? What evils has thou chosen instead of what good things ? When God invited you to a participation in virtue, have you pursued vice? And when he offered to you for your enjoyment the tree of life, that is to say the tree of wisdom by which you might live, have you hastened into ignorance and to destruction, preferring misery, the death of the soul to the happiness of eternal life ? The third interpretation is the interrogative one ; to which there may be two answers given. The one, if the answer be given to the inquirer, " Where art thou?" is, " Nowhere." For the soul of the wicked man has no place to which it can go, or in which it can be situated. In respect of which fact the wicked man is said to be destitute of place ; but an evil destitute of place is one which is difficult to manage. And such is the man who is void of good qualities, being always agitated and in a state of confusion, and wavering about after the fashion of an unsteady breeze being altogether the companion of no single steady opinion. The other answer may be of this kind ; that winch Adam himself uses. " Hear where I am," where those are who are unable to see God ; where those are who do not listen to God ; where those are who endeavour to conceal themselves from him who is the author of all things : where those are who flee from virtue, where those are who are destitute of wisdom, where those are who are alarmed and tremble because of the unmanliness and cowardice of their souls. For when Adam says, "I heard thy voice in the paradise and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself," he exhibits all the qualities enumerated above, as I have shown, more at length, in the former books of this treatise.

XIX. And God said to the woman, '; What is this that thou hast done '?" And she said, " The serpent beguiled me and I did eat," God asks one question of the outward sense, and she replies to a different one. For he is putting a question which has reference to the man ; but she in her reply speaks not of the man but of herself, saying, " I ate," not I gave. May we then by the use of allegory solve the question which was here put, and show that the woman gave a felicitous and correct answer to the question? For it follows of necessity that when she had eaten, her husband did also eat, for when the outward sense striking upon its object is filled with its appearance, then immediately the mind joins it and takes its share of it, and is in a manner made perfect by the nourishment which it receives from it. This therefore is what she says, I unintentionally gave it to my husband, for while I was applying myself to what was presented to me, he, being very easily and quickly moved, impressed its appearance aud ima^e upon himself.

XXXVII. " And he is accursed beyond all the beasts of the field." And I mean by this, beyond all the passions of the soul, for it is only there that the mind is wounded and destroyed. Why then does this one appear to be worse than all the other passions? Because it is almost at the bottom of them all, as a sort of base or foundation for them, for desire originates in the love of pleasure, and pain consists in the removal of pleasure ; and fear again is caused by a desire to guard against its absence. So it is plain that all the passions are anchored on pleasure ; and perhaps one might say that they would absolutely have had no existence at all if pleasure had not been previously laid down as a foundation to support them. XXXVIII. " Upon thy breast and upon thy belly shalt thou go." For passion works around these parts, the breast and the belly, like a serpent in his hole ; when pleasure has its efficient causes and its subject-matter, then it is in operation around the belly and the parts adjacent to the belly; and when it has not these efficient causes and this subject-matter, then it is occupied about the breast which is the seat of anger, for lovers of pleasure when deprived of their pleasures become embittered by their anger. But let us see what is shown by this sentence with greater accuracy. It so happens that our soul is divisible into three parts, and that one of its parts is the seat of reason, the second, the seat of courage, the third, the Genesis iii. U seat of the appetites. Some therefore of the philosophers have separated these parts from one another only in respect of their operations, and some have distinguished them also by their places. And then they have assigned the parts about the head to the residing part, saying where the king is, there also are his guards, and the guards of the mind are the external senses, which are seated about the head, so that the king may very naturally have his abode there too, as if he had been assigned the highest part of the city to dwell in. The chest is assigned to the courageous part, and they say, it is ou this account, that nature has fortified that part with a dense and strong defence of closely conjoined bones, as though she had been arming a valiant soldier with a breastplate and shield to defend himself against his enemies. To the appetitive part they have assigned a situation about the liver and the belly, for there it is that appetite dwells", being an irrational desire.

LIV. Moses therefore does well when he adds, " Thou shalt go upon thy breast and upon thy belly." For pleasure is not one of the things which is tranquil and steady, but is rather a thing which is in constant motion and full of confusion, for as flame is excited by being moved, so passion when it is put in motion in the soul, being in some respects like a flame, does not suffer it to rest. On which account he does not agree with those who pronounce pleasure a stable feeling, for tranquillity is connected with stones and trees, and all kinds of inanimate things, but is quite inconsistent with pleasure ; for it is fond of tickling and convulsive agitation, and with regard to some of its indulgences it has not need of tranquillity but of an intense and violent unseemliness of commotion.

LXV. And take notice here, that Moses does not say, " I will cause enmity to thee and the woman," but, " I will place enmity between thee and between the woman:" — why so? because the war between these two is concerning what is in the middle, and what lies, as it were, on the borders of pleasure and of the outward sense. And that which lies between them is what is drinkable, and what is eatable, and what is inclined to all such things, every one of which is an object to be appreciated by the outward sense, and an efficient cause of pleasure. When, therefore, pleasure wallows immoderately in these things, it at once by so doing inflicts injury on the outward sense. And again, the expression, " between thy seed and between her seed," is uttered with strict natural propriety, for all seed is the beginning of generation. But the beginning of pleasure is not passion, but an emotional impulse of the outward sense, set in motion by the mind. For from this, as from a fountain, the faculties of the outward senses are derived, especially, according to the most sacred Moses, who says that the woman was formed out of Adam, that is to say, the outward sense was formed out of the mind. The part, therefore, that pleasure acts towards the outward sense, passion also acts towards the mind. So that, since the two former are at enmity with one another, the two latter must likewise be in a state of hostility.

LXXIX. Let us now see what account Moses gives of the Genesis xxi. 7. t Genesis iii. 16. OX THE ALLEGORIES OF TEE SACRED LAWS. 167 mind itself, when it is set in motion in a way contrary to right reason. And God said unto Adam, " Because thou hast listened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee not to eat, because thou hast eaten of it, cursed is the earth in thy actions." It is a most mischievous thing, therefore, for the mind to he swayed by the outward senses, but not for the outward senses to be guided by the mind. For it is at all times proper that that which is better should rule, and that that which is worse should be ruled. And the mind is better than the outward senses. As, therefore, when the charioteer has his horses uuder command and guides the animals with the rein, the chariot is guided wherever he pleases ; but if they become restiff, and get the better of the charioteer, he is often dragged out of his road, and sometimes it even happens that the beasts themselves are borne by the impetuosity of their course into a pit, and everything is carried away in a ruinous manner. And, as a ship holds on her right course when the pilot has the helm in his hand and steers her, and she is obedient to her rudder, but the vessel is upset when some contrary wind descends upon the waves and the whole sea is occupied by billows ; so when the mind, which is the charioteer or pilot of the soul, retains the mastery over the entire animal, as a ruler does over a city, the life of the man proceeds rightly. But when the outward sense, which is devoid of reason, obtains the supremacy, then a terrible confusion overtakes the man, as might happen if a household of slaves were to conspire and to set upon their master. For then, if one must tell the truth, the mind is set fire to and burnt, the outward senses handling the flame and placing the objects of their operation beneath, as fuel.

LXXXIX. " Thorns, therefore, and thistles shall it bring forth to you." But what is it which is produced and which shoots up in the soul of the foolish man except the passions which goad and sting and wound it ? "Which Moses here, speaking symbolically, calls thorns, and which irrational appetite rushes upon at first like fire, and so hastens to meet, and afterwards uniting itself to them, it consumes and destroys all its own nature and actions. For Moses speaks thus : — " But if fire when it has gone forth finds thorns, and shall also burn a threshing-floor, or a crop of wheat, or a field of corn, then he who kindled the fire shall pay the damage." t You see therefore when it has gone forth, that is to say, irrational impetuosity, it does not only burn the thorns, but finds them : for being inclined to seek out the passions, it attains to what it Genesis iii 17. t Exodus xxii. 6. m has been desiring to find; but when it has found it, it consumes these three things, — perfect virtue, improvement, and goodness of disposition. Moses therefore here compares virtue to a threshing-floor ; for as the crops when collected are brought to the threshing-floor, so also are the good tilings which exist in the soul of the wise man brought to virtue ; and improvement he likens to the crop of wheat, inasmuch as botli the one and the other are imperfect, aiming at the end ; and goodness of disposition he compares to a field of corn, because it is well adapted to receive the seeds of virtue ; and each of the passions he calls thistles (rgifioXia), because they are divisible into three parts : the passion itself, the efficient cause, and the effect which arises from the combined operation of the two. As for instance pleasure, what is pleasant, and the being pleased ; appetite, the object of appetite, and the indulgence of appetite ; pain, what is painful, and the suffering pain ; fear, what is fearful, and the being in a state of fear.

XC. " And thou shalt eat the herb of the field ; in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread." He here speaks of the herb of the field and of bread, as if they were synonymous, or identical with one another. The herb of the field is the food of the irrational animal ; but the irrational animal is a worthless creature, which has been deprived of right reason. The outward senses are also irrational, though they are part of the soul. But the mind, which is eager for the attainment of those things which are the objects of the outward sense by means of the irrational outward senses, does not attain its desires without labour and sweat ; for the life of the foolish man is very full of distress and very burdensome, since he is always aiming at and greedily coveting the things which give pleasure, and all such things as wickedness is wont to do. And how long shall this last? " Until, " says God, "you return to the dust from which you were taken." For is he not now ranked among the things of the earth, and among things which have no consistency, ever since he deserted the wisdom which is from heaven ? We must consider therefore to what point he is coming back ; but may we not consider whether what he says has not some such meaning as this, that the foolish mind is at all times averted from right reason, and that it has been originally taken not from any sublime nature, but from some more earthly material, and whether it is stationary, OX THE CHERUBIM, ETC, 175 or whether it is in motion, it is always the same, and desirous of the same objects. On which account, God adds that, " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." And this is equivalent to what has been said before. Moreover this sentence also signifies, the beginning and the end are one and the same thing. For there hadst thou beginning in the perishable bodies of the earth ; and again, thou shalt end in them, during the interval of your life, between its beginning and its end, passing along a road which is not plain and easy, but rough, full of briars and thorns, the nature of which is to tear and wound thee. A TREATISE ON THE CHERUBIM ; A.VD ON THE FTiAMTITO SWORD ; ON THE FIRST-BORN CHILD OF MAN, CAIN. PART I.

I. " And God cast out Adam, and placed him opposite the paradise of happiness ; and he placed there the cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of. life. In this place Moses uses the expression, "He cast out," but previously he said, "He sent out," not using the various expressions at random, but being well aware with reference to what parts he was employing them with propriety and felicity. Now a man who is sent out is not hindered from returning at some subsequent time ; but he who is cast out by God must endure an eternal banishment, for it is granted to him who has not yet been completely and violently taken prisoner by wickedness, to repent, and so to return back to virtue, from which he has been driven, as to his great country ; but he who is weighed down by, and wholly subjected to, a violent and incurable disease, must bear his misfortunes for ever, being for all times unalterably cast out into the place of the wicked, Genesis iii. 24. that there he may endure unmitigated and everlasting misery. Since we see Agar,f by whom we understand the middle kind of instruction which is confined to the encyclical system, twice going forth from Sarah, who is the symbol of predominant virtue, and once returning back by the same road, inasmuch as after she had fled the first time, without being banished by her mistress, she returned to see her master's house, having been met by an angel, as the holy scriptures read : but the second time, she is utterly cast out, and is never to be brought back again.

XXIV. Moses, therefore, represents the serpent that appeared to Eve as planning the death of man, for he records, that God says in his curses, " He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." But he represents the serpent of Dan, which is the one which we are now discussing, as biting the heel of the horse and not of the man, for the serpent of Eve, being the symbol of pleasure, as has been already shown, attacks man, that is to say, the reasoning power which is in every one of us ; for the enjoyment and free use of excessive pleasure is the destruction of the mind ; and the serpent of Dan being a sort of image of vigorous virtue and of patient endurance, will bite the horse, who is the emblem of passion and wickedness, because temperance is occupied about the overthrow and destruction of these things. Accordingly, when they are bitten and wThen they have fallen, " the horseman also," says Moses, " will fall ;" and the meaning which he couceals under this enigmatical expression is such as this, that we must think it an excellent thing and an object wortlry of all labour, that our mind shall not be mounted upon any one of the passions or vices, but that whenever an attempt is made by force to put it upon one of them, we must endeavour to leap off and fall, for such falls produce the most glorious victories. On which account one of the ancients, when challenged to a contest of abuse, said, " I will never engage in such a contest as that in which he who wins is more dishonoured than he who is defeated."