The Works of Philo Judaeus

XXV. But it is not our creation that has established these boundaries, but reasons, which are older than we, or than any thing upon the earth ; and which, moreover, are divine. In accordance with which the law also has declared the same thing, charging every one of us not to adulterate the coinage of virtue, in these words, " Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark which thy fathers established, "t And in another passage he says, " Ask thy father, and he will tell thee ; ask thy elders, and they will make it known to thee, how the Most High, when he divided the nations, dispersed the sons of Adam, and fixed the bounda- Deuteronomy xxx. 12. t Deuteronomy xix. 14. X 306 ries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And the portion of the Lord was his people Jacob, the limitation of the inheritance of Israel." Shall I then inquire of the father who begat me and brought me up, or of those who are his contemporaries, but older than I am ? or has God divided the nations, or sown them, or settled them in the land ? and will they answer me accurately how this was done, as if they had been present at every division ? Surely not. For they will say, We also in our youth were fond of inquiring of our parents and of those who were lder than we, and learnt nothing certain ; for they had nothing to tell us, and they again professed themselves pupils of those who knew, since they themselves were ignorant.