Fragment 3<\/p>\n
1and by weight [\u2026] he will not do his work. A man who judges before investigating, or who trusts before [\u2026] 2do not give him power over those who pursue knowledge, because he will not understand their justice, that is, to declare righteous the righteous and to declare wicked the w[icked;] 3he will become despised as well. [blank] A man of blind eyes do not send to look for the upright, [\u2026 a man] 4 hard of hearing do not send to investigate a case, because a dispute among men he will not settle. Like one who winnows [grain] in a wind 5but cannot purify it, so is someone who speaks to an ear that cannot hear, or someone who tells a tale to someone who is sound asleep in a spirit of [\u2026] 6A man of a dull mind (lit., a fat heart) do not send to unearth plots, because the wisdom of his mind (lit., heart) is hidden, nor can he control i[t \u2026] 7the wisdom of his hands he cannot find. [blank] A man of understanding receives instruc[tion.] [blank] A man of intelligence obtains wisdom. [\u2026] 8A man of uprightness accepts justice. [blank] A man of truth re[joices in a prov]erb. [blank] A man of strength is zealous for [\u2026] 9[and h]e will be the prosecutor of all those who move the boundary.6<\/p>\n
Musar leMevin<\/p>\n
The text called Musar leMevin (MLM) is also designated 4Q Instruction in scholarly literature. In its form, MLM is comparable to other ancient Jewish Wisdom texts from Hellenistic times and can best be classified as an instruction. Its pedagogical tone and the long admonitions mixed with more reflective passages resemble texts like Ecclesiastes and the book of Ben Sira. The admonitions of MLM can be divided into teachings about philosophical and practical issues. But when it comes to the more practical instructions, MLM sometimes resembles the structure of proverbs, in the biblical book of Proverbs. Wisdom instructions like the MLM were widespread in the ancient Near Eastern literatures and are still preserved from ancient Egypt (e.g., Instructions of Amenemope and Instruction of Ani), Coile-Syria (e.g., Ahikar), and Mesopotamia (e.g., Instructions of Shuruppak and Counsels of Wisdom). As a collection of typical wisdom instruction, MLM provides its readers with both practical advice and philosophical reflections.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Of MLM, seven or maybe eight damaged manuscripts were found in Caves 1 and 4 from Qumran: 1Q26 Instruction, 4Q415 Instructiona, 4Q416 Instructionb, 4Q417 Instructionc, 4Q418 Instructiond, 4Q418a Instructione, perhaps 4Q418c Instructionf, and 4Q423 Instructiong. All manuscripts are written in Hebrew and were copied in the late 1st century BCE or the early 1st century CE. That 4Q416 was written on a low-quality skin is illustrated by the big round hole in 4Q416 2 i\u2013ii, which was already part of the original. An unpublished material reconstruction by Annette Steudel and Birgit Lucassen shows that 4Q416 and 4Q417 have different beginnings. 4Q417 attests to the shorter and hence earlier version of MLM.
\nUnlike other Jewish Wisdom Literature, MLM is interested in priestly questions and concerns, including sacrifice of the firstborn (4Q423 3\u20134 || 1Q26 2 4), mixing things (4Q418 103 ii 6\u20139; cf. Deut. 22:9\u201311), feasts and seasons (4Q418 118 3; 4Q416 1 3), and impurity (4Q417 4 ii 2; 4Q418 20 2). This interest in priestly matters argues that MLM was written in a priestly milieu connected with the Jerusalem Temple.
\nSeveral passages of MLM engage with the skeptical wisdom of the book of Ecclesiastes. A good example is 4Q418 69 ii. Its criticism of the book of Ecclesiastes means that MLM must have been written later than the book of Ecclesiastes, which comes from the 3rd century BCE. That Thanksgiving Hymns (Hodayot) from the Qumran library allude to MLM several times provides further information on its date. As the Hodayot were written in the middle of the 2nd century BCE or slightly later, MLM must have been composed between the later part of the 3rd century BCE and the first half of the 2nd century BCE. In comparison to texts like the Book of Daniel which responds with its dualism to the Hellenistic religious reforms, the eschatology and dualistic thought of the two versions of MLM do not document any direct response to historical events. This kind of ahistoric eschatology and dualism are untypical for Jewish literature after the Hellenistic religious reforms (175\u2013164 BCE) and the following Maccabean wars. It seems likely that MLM\u2018s revision comes from the early 2nd century BCE, while its earlier version was written in the late 3rd century BCE.
\nThe bad stage of preservation of MLM\u2018s manuscripts makes it difficult to decide whether the earlier version of MLM incorporated source material in turn. Such a possibility cannot be excluded in the case of the more practically oriented admonitions of 4Q416 2, but cannot be proven either.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
MLM is the best-preserved Wisdom text from the Qumran library. It marks an important paradigm shift in ancient Jewish sapiential thought, combining approaches of traditional Wisdom instructions with a predestinarian worldview characterized by eschatology and dualism. MLM gives practical advice about how to cope with life. Questions like how to deal with loans and property, how to interact with the powerful, how to treat one\u2019s parents, and spousal relationships are addressed (see 4Q416 2). 4Q418 81+81a 15 even speaks of manual skills (\u201cwisdom of the hands\u201d). Although earlier Wisdom Literature attests to the same interest in practical advice, its in-depth discussion in MLM is unprecedented. Other passages of MLM are more theological or philosophical in character (e.g., 4Q417 2 i and 4Q418 69 ii). For MLM, the sapiential order of the universe includes more than ethical principals. MLM calls this order \u201cmystery of being and becoming\u201d (see comment on 4Q417 1 i 6). MLM conceives the mystery of being and becoming as a blueprint of both creation and history. Dualistic and eschatological in character, this mystery was revealed to humanity in the form of the Vision of Hagoh and to Israel in the form of the Torah. That MLM quotes and alludes to authoritative literature more often than it quotes other Jewish Wisdom texts is a reflection of this increased importance of the Torah.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The Hebrew of MLM is among the most difficult of the Dead Sea Scrolls, since it uses rare terminology. Depending on context, several terms may carry both a religious and a secular meaning. Furthermore, MLM uses some words in both metaphorical and nonmetaphorical ways. The existing English translations of MLM differ significantly from each other. In my translation, I have tried to take MLM\u2018s oscillating use of its vocabulary into account. When MLM engages with practical advice I have rendered it in a more secular way, while in the more philosophically orientated passages I have emphasized the religious connotations of its vocabulary.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Burns, Joshua Ezra. \u201cPractical Wisdom in 4QInstruction.\u201d Dead Sea Discoveries 11 (2004): 12\u201342.
\nGoff, Matthew J. Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 9\u201368. Vetus Testamentum Supplement 116. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. The Worldly and Heavenly Wisdom of 4QInstruction. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 50. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nHarrington, Daniel J. \u201cRecent Study of 4QInstruction.\u201d In From 4QMMT to Resurrection: M\u00e9langes qumraniens en hommage \u00e0 \u00c9mile Puech, ed. Florentino Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez, Annette Steudel, and Eibert Tigchelaar, 105\u201323. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 61. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. Wisdom Texts from Qumran, 40\u201359. Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls. London: Routledge, 1996.
\nJefferies, Daryl F. Wisdom at Qumran: A Form-Critical Analysis of the Admonitions in 4QInstruction. Gorgias Dissertations: Near Eastern Studies 3. Piscataway NJ: Gorgias, 2002.
\nTigchelaar, Eibert J. C. To Increase Learning for the Understanding Ones: Reading and Reconstructing the Fragmentary Early Jewish Sapiential Text 4QInstruction. Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 44. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
\nWold, Benjamin G. Women, Men, and Angels: The Qumran Wisdom Document Musar leMevin and Its Allusions to Genesis Creation Traditions. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.201. T\u00fcbingen: Mohr, 2005.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
4Q417 1 i (|| 4Q418 43\u201345 i)<\/p>\n
1[\u2026 and] you, teach[e]r [\u2026] 2[\u2026 and] the wondrou[s] mysteries [of the God of the fearful ones you shall comprehend first \u2026] 3[\u2026] and perceive [the mystery of being and becoming and the deeds of old, why something will be and what will be] 4[through them \u2026 eter]nity [\u2026 why] 5[something exists and why it will be through them \u2026] in all [\u2026] deed and de[ed] 6[\u2026 day and night murmur the mystery of b]eing and becoming, seeking it continuously, and then you will know truth and iniquity, wisdom 7[and foll]y.
\nRecognize the dee[ds of the wicked] in all their ways together with their punishment for all eras of eternity and (their) eternal punishment 8and then you will discern between good and evil according to their deeds.
\nIndeed the God of knowledge is the foundation of truth and in the mystery of being and becoming 9he separated its foundation and its deeds [\u2026 for all wis]dom and for all [dis]cernment he has formed it and the dominion of its deeds 10for all its eternity and all together with all [\u2026] and he has explained for their understanding all her d[eeds] so that they may walk 11in [the inclination] of their understanding and he separated [\u2026] and in prosperity of understanding were made kno[wn] the [sec]rets 12of his plan together with walking perfectly [in all his c]reations.
\nThese things seek continuously and gain understanding [in al]l 13their consequences and then you will know the glory of [his] mi[ght toge]ther with his wondrous mysteries and the mighty acts of his deeds.
\nAnd you, 14teacher, poor is your work in the memory of ti[me because he b]rought the command incised and engraved (he brought) all punishment 15for engraved is what is ordained by God against all i[niquities] of the sons of Seth. And the book of remembrance was written before him 16for those who keep his word. And the vision of Hagoh (murmuring) is the book of remembrance. And as an inheritance he gave it Enosh together with the people of the spirit, because 17according to the blueprint of the holy ones he formed him but he did not give Hagoh (murmuring) to the spirit of flesh as it cannot distinguish between 18[goo]d and evil according to the judgment of its [sp]irit.
\nAnd you, son of a teacher, perceive the mystery of being and becoming and know.\u2026<\/p>\n
4Q416 2 i + frag. 26 (|| 4Q417 2 i 1\u2013ii 2 2; 4Q418a 22; 4Q418 7\u20138)<\/p>\n
4Q417 2 i 1at every time so that he will not be fed up with you. And according to his spirit speak with him so that he will not hate you and also [\u2026] 2Without rebuking the noble, go to him and be without guilt with a prince in a time of [\u2026] 3and you will not confuse his spirit when you speak calml[y \u2026] 4and his rebuke recount hastily and do not pass by your transgression [because \u2026] 5and he is righteous like you because he is a prince among pr[inces. With forgiveness] 4Q416 2 i 1[he will act, for how unique is he among all works (of God)] without
\n2[\u2026 and an unjust man do not regard as a helper and no one who hates \u2026] 3[those who do you evil \u2026 the wickedness of his works together with his punishment, but know where you will walk with him \u2026] search
\n4[\u2026 should not be absent from your heart and for yourself alone do not widen you]r [throat] in your poverty 5[because what more marginal than a poor person. Do not rejoice in your sorrow so that you do not toil] in your life. Perceive the mystery of being and becoming 6[and grasp the origins of happiness and know who inherits glory and toil. Has not \u2026] and for their sorrows] 7eternal joy.
\nBe an advocate for your own business and not a \u2026] for your wrongdoings. [S]peak 8[your judgment like a just ruler, do not grasp \u2026 4Q417 2 i 14and do not pass] by [your transgressions]. Be like a needy man when you contend [his] judgment [\u2026] 15grasp.
\nAnd then God will see and his anger will turn away and he will pass by your sins [beca]use before [his] an [ger] 16nobody can stand. And who will be righteous in his judgment? And without forgiveness [h]ow [\u2026] 17poor man.
\nAnd you, when you lack food, [b]ring your lack and your surplus [together]. When 18you have a surplus bring it to the city of its choice and take your share from it but do not take mo[re. And when] 19you lack something, borrow what you need\u2014even though you are without property\u2014because the treasure [of God] has no lack. [And upon] 20his command everything comes into being. And what he let you savor, eat but do not take more so [that you do not shorten] 21your life.
\nIf you borrow property from men for your need, do not [slee]p 22day and night and let there be no rest for yourself [until] you returned it to the one who len[t to you.] Do not lie 23to him\u2014why should you carry guilt? And also from shame [\u2026] 4Q416 2 i 16and you cannot trust anymore 17[his neighbor and in your need he will shut his hand like a hook \u2026] and like him, borrow and know who will gath[er] (it, i.e., the loan). 18[And if an affliction befalls you, haste to \u2026], do not conceal from the one who len[t to you]19[so that he will not reveal your shame \u2026] the one who rules over him and then [he will n]ot strike him 20[with a rod \u2026] you give a name of honor but nothing more. And also 21[you \u2026] in anger. If you urge your hand 22[without \u2026]
\nask for your food because he<\/p>\n
4Q416 2 ii (|| 4Q417 2 ii 2\u201326; 4Q418a 19]; 4Q418 7\u20138)<\/p>\n
1has opened [his] comp[assion \u2026 to fil]l all the ne[eds of his property and to give food] 2for all life and there is no one [\u2026 but if] he shuts his hand [the breath of all] flesh [will be gathered (i.e., vanish) 3do not [\u2026 because of it, nor] hide your face because of his shame, nor from a captive because of his folly.
\n4As much [if the lender\u2019s property \u2026] pay (him) [quickly] so that you will become even with him. If 5you appointed [to the one who lent to you] the purse with your treasures [on behalf of your bad goods], you [gave] your whole life to him. Quickly return what 6is his and take [your] purse. [And with your words do not belittle \u2026] your spirit. For no fortune exchange your holy spirit 7because there is no price equal [to it.\u2026
\nIf a mighty one among me]n is not inclined favorably toward you, seek his face and according to his language 8speak then you will find your business [instead of your shame. Do not embitter] him but your laws do not abandon and guard your secrets 9[very] much. If he appoints you to his service (lit., appoints to you serving him), [give yourself no rest and n]o rest give for your eyes until you have done 10[his] comman[ds bu]t do not continue (afterward). And if it is possible to act mo[destly, \u2026] and do not let anything remain for him, even tribute 11[giv]e him, so that he does not say \u201che despised me\u201d and it is fa]l[len \u2026] and see how widespread human jealousy is 12[and that the treachery of the mind is more than \u2026] if in his favor you will strengthen his service and the wisdom of his wealth 13[\u2026] you will counsel him [then you will become] for him a firstborn son and he will take pity on you like a man on his only child 14[because you are his servant and] his [chos]en. And you should not trust in what you hate and be not sleepless because of your hardship. 15[And you should resemble for him a learn]ed [servant.]
\nMoreover do not abase yourself toward someone who does not equal you, then you will beco[me] 16[for him like a father \u2026] One who does not have your strength do not touch so that you may not stumble and increase your shame greatly. 17[Do not s]ell yourself for wealth\u2014it is good for you to be a servant in spirit and to serve your oppressors free of charge. And for no price 18sell your honor or give it in pledge on your inheritance so that it does not possess you (lit., your body). Do not satisfy (yourself) with bread 19when there is no clothing. Do not drink wine when there is no food. Do not seek pleasure when you 20lack bread. Do not honor yourself with your need when you are poor, so that you do not 21despise your life.
\nMoreover, do not diminish the vessel of your bosom [\u2026]<\/p>\n
4Q416 2 iii (|| 4Q418 9+9a+9b+9c, 10a, 10b, 11)<\/p>\n
2and remember that you are poor [\u2026] and your need 3you will not find. And in your treachery you [\u2026 if \u2026] is entrusted to you 4do not put your hand on it, so that it may not be scorched [and] your body not be burned in its fire. A[s you have tak]en it so you need to return it 5and joy will be with you if you are free from it.
\nMoreover, take no property from any man whom you do not know, 6so that he will not increase your poverty. But if he puts it (i.e. the property) on your head, so that you might die, you will have to take charge of it. But if your spirit is not crushed 7by it, then you will lie down with faithfulness and when you die your remembrance will flower forever and your posterity will inherit 8joy.
\nYou are poor, do not desire what is beyond your share, and do not be confused by it so that you may not displace 9your boundary. But if he restores you to splendor walk in it. And in the mystery of being and becoming study his origins and then you will know 10his share. And in righteousness you shall walk so that God will cause his ap[pearance] to shine on all your ways. To the ones who honor you give splendor 11and his name praise continually, because from poverty he raised your head and among nobles he seated you and over a glorious share 12he put you in charge. For his will look continually.
\nYou are poor. Do not say, \u201cI am poor, and why 13should I search for knowledge?\u201d Bring your neck under all instruction and with all [\u2026] refine your heart and with a wealth of understanding 14your thoughts. Search for the mystery of being and becoming and understand all the ways of truth and look at all the roots of iniquity. 15And then you will understand what is bitter for a fellow and what is sweet for a man.
\nHonor your father in your poverty 16and your mother in your steps because as god is to a man so is his father, and like the LORD is to a man so is his mother because 17they are a furnace that was pregnant with you. And like he put them in charge over you so he formed you upon the spirit\u2014in this way you shall serve them. And like 18he has opened your ear for the mystery of being and becoming, honor them for the sake of your honor. And with [\u2026] honor their faces 19for the sake of your life and the length of your days.
\nAnd if you are poor like a sheep [\u2026 and if] 20without commandment you have taken a wife in your poverty, take [her] children [\u2026] 21because of the mystery of being and becoming. When you are joined together, walk with the helper of your flesh [\u2026 a man leaves]<\/p>\n
4Q416 2 iv (|| 4Q418 10b)13<\/p>\n
1his father [and] his mother and cl[ings to his wife and becomes one flesh].14 2He has given you authority over her and she [\u2026 her father] 3he has not given authority over her. From her mother he has separated her. And to you [is her heart.] 4(She) is one flesh with you. Your daughter he will separate (from you) for another one and your sons [for the daughters of your neighbors.] 5But you will be together with the woman of your bosom because she is flesh of [your] nak[edness]. 6And whoever wants to have authority over her\u2014except for you\u2014has moved the boundary of his life. Over [her spirit] 7he has put you in authority to live (lit., to walk) according to your will. A vow or free will offer[ing] (of hers) 8your spirit may revoke according to your will. And every binding oath of her, to be vowed as a vo[w,] 9annul by a quick utterance of your mouth. And according to your will forbid [her. Wi]th[out doing a hasty utterance] 10of your lips forgive her for your own sake. Do not increase [\u2026] 11your glory in your allotment [\u2026] 12in your allotment, lest [\u2026] 13the woman of your bosom and sham[e \u2026]<\/p>\n
4Q418 69 ii (|| 4Q417 5)<\/p>\n
1[\u2026] your 2[\u2026] and you will understand [\u2026] with 3[\u2026] do not in truth walk 4all their [seas] and in knowledge all their waves?
\nAnd now, foolish-minded ones (lit., foolish of heart), what is good for (a man) who has not 5been created? [And what is] tranquility for (a man) who did not come into being? And what is judgment to (a man) who has not been founded? And what shall the dead groan over [thei]r d[eath]? 6But you, [for iniqui]ty you were created, and to the eternal pit will be your return, because it (i.e. the pit) will awake to [\u2026] your sin [\u2026] 7its darknesses will cry out against your lawsuit. And everything, which exists eternally, (especially) the ones who seek truth, will arise for yo[ur] judgment. [And then] 8all foolish-minded ones (lit., foolish of heart) will be destroyed and all sons of iniquity will be found no more and all supporters of wickedness will withe[r] away [and then] 9at your judgment the foundations of the sky will shout and all [\u2026] will thunder [\u2026] those who love [\u2026]
\n10And you, who are the chosen ones of truth, who pursue [knowledge and] who see[k understanding and] who watc[h] 11over all knowledge, how can you say we toiled with understanding and we were vigilant in pursuing knowledge [\u2026] in all [\u2026] 12and he does not become weary in all years of eternity. Does he not delight in truth forever and does not knowledge [forever] serve him? And the so[ns] 13of heaven whose inheritance is eternal life, do they ever say: \u201cWe toil with the works of truth and [we] are weary (of them) 14in all times\u201d? Do [they] not wal[k] in eternal life, glory, and abundant splendor? You [\u2026] 15in the skies of [\u2026]council of the divine ones all [\u2026]
\nAnd you son of [a teacher]<\/p>\n
MLM Revision<\/p>\n
Until Annette Steudel and Eva Jain publish their material reconstructions of the various MLM manuscripts, it is difficult to assess which texts belong to the longer version of MLM. Only one of the better-preserved fragments can be identified with any degree of certainty as a part of this redaction, that is, 4Q416 1.<\/p>\n
4Q416 1 (|| 4Q418 1, 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 208, 209, 218, 212, 217, 224, 229)<\/p>\n
1every spirit [\u2026 stars of light] 2and to weigh the pleasures of [\u2026 they run from eternal time] 3season by season and [\u2026 properly they walk] 4according to their army to ru[le measured and to \u2026 for kingdom] 5and kingdom, for each provi[nce and province, for man and man \u2026] 6insufficiency of their army [and the judgment of them all is for him \u2026] 7and the army of heaven he has established ov[er \u2026 and luminaries] 8for their emblems and the signs of [their] sea[sons \u2026]
\n9this for this and all their punishment t[hey shall finish and] they shall report [\u2026] 10in heaven he will judge upon the work of wickedness and all the sons of his truth will be accepted [\u2026] 11its end, and they will be frightened, and all who defiled themselves with it (i.e. wickedness) will cry out (in distress). Indeed the heavens will fear [\u2026 and the earth will tremble from its place] 12[s]eas and depths will be in terror and all spirit of flesh will be shocked but the sons of heave[n \u2026 in the day] 13[of] its [jud]gment and even all iniquity will end when the period of the tru[th] will be completed [14in all periods of eternity, because he is a God of truth and from of old the years of [\u2026]
\n15so that the righteous may distinguish between good and evil [\u2026] every judgme[nt \u2026 16inclination of flesh is he and the understanding ones of [\u2026] 17his creatures because [\u2026]<\/p>\n
Fragments that cannot be put in a sequence or assigned to a revision<\/p>\n
4Q418 81+81a (|| 4Q423 8, 23)<\/p>\n
1Your lips he opened as a well to praise the holy ones, and you, like an eternal spring praise [them. From of] old he has separated you from all 2spirit of flesh, and you, separate yourself from everything he hates and keep away from all abominations of life. [Inde]ed he has made everything, 3and he let them each possess his allotment and he is your portion and your allotment among the sons of Adam and over his allotment he let you rule, and you, 4honor him by this, that is, by consecrating yourself to him like he appointed you to the holy of holiest [for all] earth.
\nAnd among all [his a]n[gels] 5he let your lot fall and he has increased your glory greatly and he has appointed you for himself as (his) firstborn [\u2026 \u201c\u2026] 6and my goodness I will give for you,\u201d and you, is not his goodness for you? Therefore in faithfulness to him walk continuously [\u2026] 7your works. And you, seek his judgment through everyone who carries a lawsuit against you in all [\u2026 and with \u2026] 8love him through eternal kindness as well as through compassion against all who observe his word. And show zeal for him [\u2026]
\n9And you, [he op]ened understanding for you and let you rule over his treasure. And an ephah of truth visite[d you \u2026] 10with you they are. And it is in your hand to turn away anger from the men of (his) favor and to visit upon [them \u2026] 11with you. Before you take your allotment from his hand, honor his holy ones. And befo[re \u2026] 12open [with] a song for all holy ones. And everyone who is called by his name will be holy [\u2026] 13during all periods his majesty, his glory for the eter[nal] plantation [\u2026] 14[\u2026] ear[th]. In it all who will inherit the land will walk, because in hea[ven \u2026]
\n15And you, teacher, if he has given you authority over manual skills (lit., wisdom of hands) then be aware [\u2026] 16property for all walking humans. From there you shall seek your food and [\u2026] 17increase greatly in understanding and from all your teachers get more understanding [\u2026] 18bring forth your poverty for all those who seek pleasure and then you will establish [\u2026] 19you will fill and you will be satisfied with an abundance of good things. And from your manual skills (lit., from the wisdom of your hands) [\u2026] 20because God has apportioned the allotment [of al]l [life].
\nAnd all (you) wise-minded ones, understand [\u2026]<\/p>\n
Philosophical Treatises of Philo<\/p>\n
In addition to his biblically focused compositions, which themselves reflect a philosopher\u2019s outlook, Philo composed some more explicitly philosophical works. These writings are different in style and focus, some dealing more with ideas and some describing Jewish philosophy by describing \u201cJewish philosophers\u201d (Jewish groups that Philo sees as ideal practitioners of that philosophy). The excerpts help us to see both Philo\u2019s concern about expressing the meaning of the Torah in philosophical terms and his intention to present the Jews as a nation of philosophers to non-Jewish contemporaries (and to Jews themselves as well).<\/p>\n
On the Virtues (51\u2013174)<\/p>\n
Walter T. Wilson<\/p>\n
Because of their distinctive beliefs, practices, and history, Jews in Greco-Roman antiquity were frequently the object of misrepresentation and slander. One of the more common accusations was that Jews expressed goodwill only toward their own people while having nothing but contempt for all others (see comment on Virtues 141). Such views extended to the founder of the nation himself, Moses, who was seen by Judaism\u2019s pagan detractors as formalizing a hatred of humankind in his laws. For a Jew like Philo of Alexandria, a writer steeped in the political and intellectual life of Greco-Roman society, refuting such charges and creating a more positive image of the Mosaic tradition represented a lifelong undertaking.
\nPhilo\u2019s On the Virtues 51\u2013174 (\u201cOn Humanity\u201d) contributes to this end by demonstrating the Jewish \u201clove of humanity\u201d (philanthr\u014dpia), expressed specifically in what Philo presents as Moses\u2019s twofold legacy. The first part of this legacy has to do with the final actions of the lawgiver\u2019s life (51\u201379); the second part with the laws that he left behind (80\u2013174). By demonstrating how these laws embody some of the highest philosophical and moral ideals of the time, Philo hopes to secure the legitimate place of this legacy in the Greco-Roman world.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
In a treatise that belongs to the same commentary series as On the Virtues, Philo complains about being dragged into an \u201cocean of civil cares\u201d (Spec. Laws 3.1\u20134). Many scholars take this as a reference to Philo\u2019s role in the civil unrest that occurred in Alexandria in 38\u201341 CE (see his treatises Against Flaccus and On the Embassy to Gaius). In this case On the Virtues would have been written toward the end of Philo\u2019s life, sometime in the 40s CE. The text is preserved in over two dozen manuscripts in Greek, its original language. Important evidence for its early textual history comes also from Clement of Alexandria (d. 211\u201316 CE), who cites and adapts it extensively in Book 2 of his Miscellanies.
\nOn the Virtues belongs to the third and last of Philo\u2019s commentary series, usually referred to as the Exposition of the Law. The Exposition provides a relatively systematic account of the Pentateuch, beginning with On the Creation of the World and the early history of the Jewish people (On the Life of Abraham and On the Life of Joseph). A review of Moses\u2019s legislation follows, first the general laws (On the Decalogue) then the particular ordinances dependent on them (On the Special Laws, Books 1\u20134). Beginning at Spec. Laws 4.133\u201335, however, the discussion moves in a new direction. Philo says that it is also possible to show that the Law in its entirety accords with \u201cthe virtues of universal value,\u201d by which he means piety, wisdom, temperance, justice, courage, and humanity. Philo claims to have already covered the first three of these, while the last three identify the topics of Spec. Laws 4.136\u2013238, Virtues 1\u201350, and Virtues 51\u2013174 respectively. Our treatise, then, belongs to a larger effort to relate the Law to the Greco-Roman virtues. The Exposition concludes with On Rewards and Punishments, while the two-volume On the Life of Moses appears to be attached to the Exposition as a kind of introduction.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The \u201clove of humanity\u201d was one of the most highly prized and widely discussed virtues in Greco-Roman antiquity. Philo makes a distinctive contribution to this discussion by highlighting a particular perspective on the virtue, one which he no doubt thought important within his overall presentation of the Pentateuch. Specifically, he seems concerned to include in On the Virtues material that shows how people who have wealth or authority treat those who do not. Thus among those who exercise this virtue are rulers (55\u201379), creditors (par. 82\u201387, 89), slave owners (par. 121\u201324), and the rich (par. 161\u201374), while the recipients of humane conduct include day laborers (par. 88), the hungry (par. 90\u201394, 97\u201398), war captives (par. 110\u201315), newborn animals (par. 126\u201344), and similar groups.
\nFor Philo, then, philanthr\u014dpia might accurately be thought of as a \u201cpolitical\u201d virtue, insofar as it concerns the proper use of power in a wide range of situations. In this regard it is important to note that while due attention is given to how Jews interact with non-Jews (par. 102\u201320, 146\u201347, 149\u201354), most of the treatise concerns relations internal to the Jewish community. Apparently, Philo\u2019s aim is to demonstrate that humanity pervades all aspects of the nation that Moses founded. It stands to reason, then, that in both his actions (par. 51, 70) and his laws (par. 139), Moses serves as a model for the leaders of other nations, who are thereby inspired to be more humane in dealing with their people.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
On the Virtues falls into three major sections. Part 1 (51\u201379) narrates two \u201cproofs\u201d of Moses\u2019s humanity as his life drew to a close, one concerning the choice of his successor, the other his final words. Part 2 (80\u2013160), the longest section, is a select survey of Mosaic laws that\u2014Philo will argue\u2014exhibit humanity. This part, in turn, is divided into three sections, dealing successively with people (especially the poor and dispossessed, proselytes, settlers, enemies, and slaves), then animals, then plants. Part 3 (161\u201374) argues more generally for the humanity of the Jewish community, especially its wealthier citizens, who shun arrogance and contribute to the common good by enriching others with virtue. The overall structure of the treatise contributes to Philo\u2019s basic aim of showing how humanity similarly governs the lawgiver, his laws, and all those who abide by them. In terms of its attempt to combine a narrative of Moses\u2019s final days with a survey of his laws, On the Virtues can be profitably compared with Book 4 of Josephus\u2019s Jewish Antiquities.
\nIn the translation, philanthr\u014dpia is usually rendered \u201chumanity,\u201d which captures the meaning of the Greek fairly well. At the same time, Philo often uses the word together with other virtues that help clarify its meaning. These include especially koin\u014dnia (\u201cfellow feeling\u201d), h\u0113merot\u0113s (\u201ckindness\u201d), epieikeia (\u201cfairness\u201d), and eleos (\u201cpity\u201d).<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Berthelot, Katell. Philanthr\u00f4pia Judaica: Le d\u00e9bat autour de la \u201cmisanthropie\u201d des lois juives dans l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 76. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nBorgen, Peder. \u201cPhilanthr\u00f4pia in Philo\u2019s Writings.\u201d In Biblical and Humane: A Festschrift for John F. Priest, edited by L. B. Elder, et al., 73\u201388. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996.
\nBorgen, Peder. Philo of Alexandria: An Exegete for His Time. Supplements to Novum Testamentum 86. Leiden: Brill 1997.
\nCohen, Naomi G. Philo Judaeus: His Universe of Discourse. BEATAJ 24. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1995.
\nColson, F. H. Philo. Loeb Classical Library, 8:195\u2013271. London: Heinemann; Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1939.
\nFeldman, Louis H. \u201cPhilo\u2019s Interpretation of Joshua.\u201d Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 12 (2001): 165\u201378.
\nFeldman, Louis H. \u201cThe Death of Moses, According to Philo.\u201d Estudios b\u00edblicos 60 (2002): 225\u201354.
\nMorris, Jenny. \u201cThe Jewish Philosopher Philo.\u201d In The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, vol. 3, pt. 2, rev. ed., edited by E. Sch\u00fcrer et al., 809\u201389. Edinburgh, England: T. & T. Clark, 1987.
\nRunia, David T. \u201cUnderneath Cohn and Colson: The Text of Philo\u2019s De virtutibus.\u201d Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 30 (1991): 116\u201334.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
On Humanity<\/p>\n
51The next subject to be examined is humanity, the virtue closest akin to piety, its sister and its twin. The prophetic legislator who perhaps loved her more than anyone else has done, since he knew that she was a high road leading to holiness, used to incite and train all his subjects to fellowship, setting before them the monument of his own life like an original design to be their beautiful model. 52Now the actions which he performed from his earliest years to old age for the care and protection of each single man and of them all have been set forth already in two treatises in which I wrote about the life of Moses. But there are one or two achievements at the end of his life, which deserve to be mentioned as proofs of the constant and unbroken nobleness of life which he impressed as a final sealing, clear and distinct, on a soul which had taken shape under the graving of God. 53When the appointed limit of his mortal life was about to be reached and he knew by unmistakable warnings that he must depart hence, he did not imitate any of the other kings and commoners, whose one eager desire and prayer is to leave behind them sons as heirs; but although he was the father of two, he did not bequeath the leadership to either. Nor did he let himself be governed by family affection and favoritism to his own connections, though even if the claims of his sons were under suspicion he had nephews at any rate of great excellence who held the highest priesthood as a reward for their virtue. 54But perhaps he did not think fit to withdraw them from the service of God, or reasonably enough considered that it was impossible for the same persons to do justice to both offices, the priesthood and sovereignty, one of which professes the service of God, the other the guardianship of men. Perhaps, too, he did not think it well to constitute himself the judge of a great matter, and no matter is so great as the task of testing and selecting the person best fitted by nature for command, a task which almost demands the divine power that alone can see with ease into the character of a man.
\n55The clearest proof I can give of this statement is as follows. He had a friend whom he had known well almost from his earliest years, Joshua by name. This friendship had not been effected in any of the ways that other friends are usually made, but by the rapturous love, which is of heaven, all pure, and truly from God, from which in fact all virtue springs. This Joshua had shared his home and board, except when solitude was prescribed to him, that is when he was under inspiration and receiving the oracles. All other services he rendered him on a different footing from the multitude and was almost his lieutenant, associated with him in the duties of government. 56Yet although Moses had so long carefully tested his excellence in word and deed, and, what was most vital of all, his loyal affection for the nation, he did not think he should leave the succession even to him. He feared that he might be deceived in thinking him a good man when he was not really so, since the standards of human judgment are such as to be vague and uncertain. 57And therefore, slow to trust in himself, he besought and entreated God, who surveys the invisible soul and to whom alone is given to discern the secrets of the mind, to choose on his merits the man most fitted to command, who would care for his subjects as a father. And stretching up to heaven his pure, and, as it might be put figuratively, his virgin hands, he said, 58\u201cLet the God of spirits and all flesh look to find a man set over the multitude to guard and protect it, a shephard who shall lead it blamelessly that the nation may not decay like a flock scattered about without one to guide it.\u201d 59Yet who of those who heard this prayer would not have been astounded? \u201cMaster,\u201d he would say, \u201cwhat do you mean, have you not lawful sons, have you not nephews? Bequeath the sovereignty to your sons as the first choice, for they naturally take precedence as heirs, or if you reject them, at least your nephews, 60or if you count them unsuitable and prefer the people at large to your nearest and closest, you have a blameless friend who has given proof of perfect virtue to your unerring wisdom. Why do you not think fit to approve of him, if the choice is not to rest on birth but on high excellence of life.\u201d 61He will say in reply, \u201cIt is very right that we should take God for our Judge in all things and particularly in great matters, where a decision for good or ill brings happiness, or, contrariwise, misery to countless multitudes. No matter is greater than sovereignty, to which is committed the charge of all the affairs of cities and countries in war and peace. For just as successful navigation demands a pilot of good judgment and knowledge, so, too, a governor of all-round wisdom is needed to secure for his subjects in every place a happy and orderly life. 62Now wisdom\u2019s years are from of old, ere not only I, but the whole universe was born, and it is not lawful or possible that any other should judge her save God, and those who love her with a love that is guileless and pure and genuine. 63I have learnt from my own history not to choose anyone else from among those who seem to be suitable and approve him for government. I did not of my own free will choose to superintend and preside over public affairs, nor did I receive the office through appointment by some other of mankind, but when God by plain oracles and manifest declarations made clear to me His will and bade me take command, considering the greatness of the task I held back with prayers and supplications, until, when He many times repeated the command, I trembled but obeyed. 64With this example before me, surely reason requires that I should follow in the same steps, and, after having had God for my approver when I was about to take command, should give the election of my successor to Him alone without the participation of human judgment, which is nearer akin to the seeming than to the true. It is a special reason for so doing that the person appointed will preside not over some ordinary nation, but over the most populous of all the nations upon earth, one which makes the greatest of all professions that it is a suppliant of Him who truly exists and is the Maker and Father of all. 65For what the disciples of the most excellent philosophy gain from its teaching, the Jews gain from their customs and laws, that is to know the highest, the most ancient Cause of all things and reject the delusion of created gods. For no created being is God in reality, but only in men\u2019s fancies, bereft as it is of the essential attribute of eternality.\u201d
\n66Here we have the first proof of the kindness and faithfulness, which he showed to all his compatriots, but there is another not inferior to it. When his disciple, Joshua, who modelled himself on his master\u2019s characteristics with the love which they deserved, had been approved by divine judgment as best fitted to command, Moses was not depressed as another might have been because the choice had not fallen on his sons or nephews, but was filled with intense joy, 67to think that the nation would be in the charge of one excelling in every way, since he knew that one in whom God is well pleased must needs be of a noble character. So taking Joshua by the right hand he brought him forward to where the multitude was congregated. He had no tremors at the thought of his own end, but had added other new joys to the old, for he had not only the memory of earlier felicities, which every kind of virtue had given him, filling him to overflowing with delight, but also the hope of coming immortality as he passed from the corruptible to the incorruptible. Thus with a face beaming with the gladness of his soul, he said brightly and cheerfully, 68\u201cThe time has come for me to depart from the life of the body but here is a successor to take charge of you, chosen by God,\u201d and he at once proceeded to recite the messages declaring God\u2019s approval, to which they gave credence; 69then turning his eyes on Joshua he bade him be of good courage and mighty in wise policy, initiate good plans of action and carry out his decisions with strong and resolute thinking to a happy conclusion. For though he to whom he addressed these words did not perhaps need the exhortation, Moses would not keep hidden the personal friendship and patriotism which urged him like a spur to lay bare what he thought would be profitable. 70Also he had received the divine command that he should exhort his successor and create him in the spirit to undertake the charge of the nation with a high courage, and not to fear the burden of sovereignty. Thus all future rulers would find a law to guide them right by looking to Moses as their archetype and model, and none would grudge to give good advice to their successors, but all would train and school their souls with admonitions and exhortations. 71For a good man\u2019s exhortation can raise the disheartened, lift them on high and establish them superior to occasions and circumstances, and inspire them with a gallant and dauntless spirit.
\n72Having discoursed thus suitably to his subjects and the heir of his headship, he proceeded to hymn God in a song in which he rendered the final thanksgiving of his bodily life for the rare and extraordinary gifts with which he had been blest from his birth to his old age. 73He convoked a divine assemblage of the elements of all existence and the chiefest parts of the universe, earth and heaven, one the home of mortals, the other the house of immortals. With these around him he sang his canticles with every kind of harmony and sweet music in the ears of both mankind and ministering angels: 74of men that as disciples they should learn from him the lesson of like thankfulness of heart: of angels as watchers, observing, as themselves masters of melody, whether the song had any discordant note, and scarce able to credit that any man imprisoned in a corruptible body could like the sun and moon and the most sacred choir of the other stars attune his soul to harmony with God\u2019s instrument, the heaven and the whole universe. 75Thus in his post amid the ethereal choristers the great Revealer blended with the strains of thankfulness to God his own true feelings of affection to the nation, therein joining with his arraignment of them for past sins his admonitions for the present occasion and calls to a sounder mind, and his exhortations for the future expressed in hopeful words of comfort which needs must be followed by their happy fulfilment.
\n76When he had ended his anthems, a blend we may call them of religion and humanity, he began to pass over from mortal existence to life immortal and gradually became conscious of the disuniting of the elements of which he was composed. The body, the shell-like growth which encased him, was being stripped away and the soul laid bare and yearning for its natural removal hence. 77Then after accomplishing the preparations for his departure he did not set out for his new home until he had honored all the tribes of his nation with the consent of his benedictions, mentioning the founders of the tribes by name. That these benedictions will be fulfilled we must believe, for he who gave them was beloved of God the lover of men and they for whom he asked were of noble lineage and held the highest rank in the army led by the Maker and Father of all. 78[The prayers were requests for true goods, not only that they should have them in this mortal life but much more when the soul is set free from the bonds of the flesh.] 79For Moses alone, it is plain, had grasped the thought that the whole nation from the very first was akin to things divine, a kinship most vital and a far more genuine tie than that of blood, and, therefore, he declared it the heir of all good things that human nature can contain. What he had himself he gave them ready for their use, what he did not possess he supplicated God to grant them, knowing that though the fountains of His grace are perennial they are not free for all, but only to suppliants. And suppliants are all those who love a virtuous life, to whom it is permitted to quench their thirst for wisdom with water drawn from the fountains of true holiness.
\n80We have stated the proofs of the legislator\u2019s humanity and fellow feeling, a quality which he possessed through a happy gift of natural goodness, and also as the outcome of the lessons which he learnt from the holy oracles. But we must also speak of the ordinances which he gave to posterity, if not all of them, which would be difficult, at least those which are closest akin to his way of thinking. 81He did not set up consideration and gentleness as fundamental to the relations of men to their fellows only, but poured it out richly with a lavish hand on animals of irrational nature and the various kinds of cultivated trees. We must mention the laws which he gave on each of these, taking them in turn and beginning with mankind.
\n82He forbids anyone to lend money on interest to a brother, meaning by this name not merely a child of the same parents, but anyone of the same citizenship or nation. For he does not think it just to amass money bred from money as their yeanlings are from cattle. 83And he bids them not take this as a ground for holding back or showing unwillingness to contribute, but without restriction of hand and heart to give free gifts to those who need, reflecting that a free gift is in a sense a loan that will be repaid by the recipient, when times are better, without compulsion and with a willing heart. This is the best course, but, if they are unwilling to give, they should at least lend with all readiness and alacrity, not with the prospect of receiving back anything except the principal. 84For in this way the poor would not become more helpless, by being forced to pay more than they received, and the contributors would not be wronged though they recovered only what they spent. Yet not \u201conly.\u201d For with the capital in place of the interest which they determine not to accept they receive a further bonus of the fairest and most precious things that human life has to give, mercy, neighborliness, charity, magnanimity, a good report and good fame. And what acquisition can rival these? 85Nay, even the Great King will appear as the poorest of men if compared with a single virtue. For his wealth is soulless, buried deep in store-houses and recesses of the earth, but the wealth of virtue lies in the sovereign part of the soul, and the purest part of existence, that is heaven, and God the parent of all claim it as their own. And can we then hold the poverty-in-wealth of the money-grubbing usurers to be of any account? They may seem to be kings with purses full of gold, but they never even in their dreams have had a glimpse of the wealth that has eyes to see.
\n86But there are some who have reached such a pitch of depravity that, when they have no money, they supply food on loan on condition that they receive in return a greater quantity than they gave. It would be long before these people would give a free meal to beggars if they create famine when they have plenty and abundance and draw a revenue out of the wretches\u2019 empty stomachs and as good as measure out food and drink on a balance to make sure that they do not overweight the scale. 87So then he absolutely commands those who shall be members of his holy commonwealth to discard such methods of profit-making, for these practices show the marks of a slavish and utterly illiberal soul transformed into savagery and the nature of wild beasts.
\n88The following also is one of the commandments promoting humanity. The wages of the poor man are to be paid on the same day, not only because it was felt to be just that one who has rendered the service for which he was engaged should receive in full and without delay the reward for his employment, but also because the manual worker or load carrier, who toils painfully with his whole body like a beast of burden, \u201clives from day to day,\u201d as the phrase goes, and his hopes rest upon his payment. If he gets it at once, he is glad and is braced up for the morrow to work with redoubled willingness. If he does not get it, besides the great trouble that this gives him, his nervous system is unstrung by his sorrow and renders him incapable to meet the routine of his task.
\n89Again, he says, a creditor must not enter the houses of his debtors, to take with violence a pledge or surety for the loan, but must stand outside in the porch and quietly bid them bring it out. They, if they have it, must not hold it back, since the right course is that, while the creditor must not abuse his power to deal inconsiderately and insolently with the borrowers, the latter must render the proper surety as a reminder to repay what belongs to another.
\n90Again who could fail to admire the ordinance about reapers or grape-pickers? He bids them at harvest time not take up what drops from the sheaves, nor put in the sickle to the whole crop, but leave part of the field uncut. In this way he makes the well- to-do high-minded and liberal by sacrificing something of their own property instead of casting greedy eyes on the whole crop, and stacking and carting it all home to be kept like a treasure. At the same time he gives fresh courage to the poor, for since they themselves own no landed property he permits them to enter the estates of their fellow countrymen and reap a harvest from what is still left as if it were their own. 91Again in the autumn when the owners have the fruit picked he forbids them to collect the grapes that fall or to glean the vineyards. He gives the same order to the olive pickers, acting like a very loving and very just father of children who have not prospered alike, some of them living in abundance, others sunk into the deepest poverty. These last in his pity and compassion he invites into the possession of their brethren to partake of what belongs to others as though it were their own, not in any shameless fashion, but to redress their privations and to make them partners, not only in the fruits but to all appearance in the estates also. 92But there are some so corrupted in mind, so engrossed in money-getting and every kind of profiteering as though it were a matter of life and death, never considering what its source can be, that they glean the olive yards and vineyards and give a second reaping to the barley fields and wheat fields, thus convicting themselves of a slavish and illiberal meanness and of impiety to boot. 93For they themselves have contributed but little to the husbandry. The most numerous and most indispensable parts of all that goes to produce fruit-bearing and fertility are due to nature\u2014the seasonable rains, the happily tempered states of the air, the gentle dews, those constant nurses of the growing plants, the truly life-giving breezes, the seasons benignly brought about so that neither the summer should over-scorch, nor frost over-chill, nor the transitions of spring and autumn injure the produce. 94And though they know these things and see that it is nature who ever brings the accomplishment and bestows these rich boons upon them, they nevertheless dare to appropriate her benefactions and as though they themselves caused everything, refuse to share anything with anybody. Their practice shows inhumanity and impiety as well, and, since, they have not of their own free will labored to get virtue, he deals with them against their will admonishing and calling them to wisdom with holy laws which the good obey voluntarily and the bad unwillingly.
\n95The laws bid us give as firstfruits to the officiating priests tithes of corn and wine and oil and domestic animals and wool and bring from the autumn produce of the fields and the other tree fruits offerings proportional to their gains in full baskets with the hymns composed in honor of God. These hymns are preserved in written records in the sacred books. Further the first-born of oxen and sheep and goats are not to be ranked among the herds as personal property, but they are to be regarded as firstfruits that thus accustomed on the one hand to honor the Godhead, and on the other to refrain from taking all things as gain, they may have the ornament of those queens of the virtues, piety and humanity.
\n96Again he says, if you see a beast belonging to one of your relations or friends, or in general to a person you know, straying in the wilderness, take it away and restore it; and if the owner is away at a distance, keep it carefully with your own, until on his return he can receive it as a deposit which he did not give, but which you, the finder, yourself restore through natural neighborly feeling.
\n97Then there is the legislation on the seventh year, which enacts that all the land should be left during that year to stand idle, and that the poor may resort securely to the estates of the rich to gather the gift of nature, the fruit which springs without cultivation. Does not this show charity and humanity? 98For six years, says the law, the owners should have the enjoyment in virtue of their ownership and labor on the land. But during one year, the seventh, when nothing in the way of cultivation has been performed, that enjoyment goes to those who have no landed possessions nor money. For it was felt to be unjust that some persons should labor and others have the produce. What is intended is that since the estates have been left, in a sense, without masters, and husbandry has had no hand in the work, the free gifts which come from God alone should come full and complete anticipating the wants of the needy.
\n99Again, in all the rules prescribed for the fiftieth year, do we not find the utmost height of humanity? Who would not agree to this, if he belongs to the company which has not just tasted and sipped the contents of the law, but has feasted abundantly and revelled in its most sweet and lovely principles? 100The measures taken in the seventh year are repeated, but he adds others even greater, by which possessions ceded to others through untoward circumstances are returned to the original owners. He does not allow the purchasers to have absolute possession of what belongs to others, thus barring the roads to covetousness, in order to curb that insidious foe and source of all evils, desire. And also he did not think it right that the original holders should be deprived of their own forever, and so pay a penalty for their poverty, which cannot justly be visited with punishment, but must on every ground receive compassion. 101The particular enactments include a host of others bearing on conduct to fellow-countrymen, but as I have sufficiently noted them in my former treatises, I will content myself with those just mentioned, which I have added as examples suitable to prove my point.
\n102Having laid down laws for members of the same nation, he holds that the incomers too should be accorded every favor and consideration as their due, because abandoning their kinsfolk by blood, their country, their customs and the temples and images of their gods, and the tributes and honors paid to them, they have taken the journey to a better home, from idle fables to the clear vision of truth and the worship of the one and truly existing God. 103He commands all members of the nation to love the incomers, not only as friends and kinsfolk but as themselves both in body and soul: in bodily matters, by acting as far as may be for their common interest; in mental by having the same griefs and joys, so that they may seem to be the separate parts of a single living being which is compacted and unified by their fellowship in it. 104I will not go on to speak of the food and drink and raiment and all the rights concerning daily life and necessary needs, which the law assigns to incomers as due from the native born, for all these follow the statutes, which speak of the friendliness shown by him who loves the incomer even as himself.
\n105Again he extends the influence which humanity naturally exerts and carries it farther afield in his instructions about settlers. He would have those who have immigrated under stress of circumstances, pay some honor to the people which has accepted them, in every possible way if the admission is accompanied by kind and hospitable treatment, in a more moderate degree if it is confined to mere acceptance. For the grant of a harbour in an alien state, or rather the mere permission to set foot on foreign soil is in itself a sufficient boon for those who are unable to dwell in their own. 106Mere fairness itself demands thus much, but he goes beyond its limits, when he considers that no malice should be borne to those whose hospitality to strangers is followed by maltreatment, for nominally they are humane though their actions are not. Thus he says without reservation, \u201cThou shalt not abhor an Egyptian because thou wast a sojourner in Egypt\u201d; 107and yet what maltreatment did the Egyptians spare to inflict on the nation, ever combining old and new outrages in their ingenious devices for wreaking their cruelty? Still since originally they received the nation and did not close their cities against them, nor make their country inaccessible to the newcomers, they should, he says, in recognition of this acceptance be admitted as a privilege to terms of amity. 108And if any of them should wish to pass over into the Jewish community, they must not be spurned with an unconditional refusal as children of enemies, but be so far favored that the third generation is invited to the congregation and made partakers in the divine revelations, to which also the native born, whose lineage is beyond reproach, are rightfully admitted.
\n109These are the laws which he lays down on the conduct to be observed in accepting settlers, but there are other charitable and very merciful regulations as to the treatment of enemies in wartime. They must not he declares be yet regarded as enemies, even if they are at the gates or stationed beside the walls in full array and planting their engines, until envoys have been sent with invitations to peace, so that if they yield they may obtain the supreme boon of friendship, but if they refuse to listen and continue their opposition, you may with justice to reinforce you advance to defend yourselves in the hope of victory. 110Further, he says, if you find among the booty a comely woman for whom you feel a desire, do not treat her as a captive, and vent your passion on her, but in a gentler spirit pity her for her change of lot and alleviate her misfortunes by changing her condition for the better in every way. 111And you will give this alleviation if you shave the hair of her head and pare her nails and take off the garment which she wore when captured, leave her alone for thirty days, and allow her without fear of disturbance to mourn and weep for her father and mother and the rest of her family, from whom she had been parted either through their death or because they are suffering the pains of slavery, which are worse than death. 112After this, live with her as your lawful wife, because holiness requires that she who is to enter a husband\u2019s bed, not as a hired harlot, trafficking her youthful bloom, but either for love of her mate or for the birth of children, should be admitted to the rights of full wedlock as her due. 113Each of these regulations is quite admirable. First he did not allow rebellious desire to go unbridled, but curbed its violence by the thirty days grant of liberty. Secondly, he tests whether the man\u2019s love is wild and giddy and wholely inspired by passion, or contains an element of reason and so has something of the purer kind. For reason will fetter desire and, instead of allowing it to commit an outrage, compel it to wait for the appointed period of a month. 114Thirdly, he shows pity for the captive, if she is a maiden, because there are no parents to plight her and make fast the union which they have so longed to see, if she is a widow, because bereft of her wedded mate, she is about to make trial of another, menaced too by the dread of a master, even if he deals with her as an equal; for the subject condition always fears the might of the superior even though it be tempered with gentleness.
\n115And if anyone, having satisfied his desire to the full and surfeited therewith, is no longer minded to continue his association with the captive, the law imposes what is not so much a loss of property as an admonition and correction leading him to improve his ways. For it bids him not sell her, nor yet keep her as a slave, but grant her freedom, and grant her, too, the right to depart in security from the house, lest if another wife comes in to supersede her, and quarrels ensue as they often do, this jealousy, with the master too under the sway of the charms of a new love and neglectful of the old, may bring her some fatal disaster.
\n116In another fresh list of injunctions to kindness, which he pours into docile ears, he commands that if beasts of burden fall under the oppression of the weight they bear, we should not pass them by, even if they belong to our enemies, but help to relieve and raise them. By this he implies a further lesson, that one should not take pleasure in the adversities of those who have shown him hatred. He knew that this malignant joy was a savagely rancorous passion, closely akin, and at the same time, opposite to envy; akin, because each of them comes under the head of passion, and in their action upon us cover the same field, and are almost sure to follow each other; opposites, because grief at our neighbor\u2019s good things is the effect of the one, pleasure at his evil things of the other. 117Again, if you see an enemy\u2019s beast straying, leave the points on which you quarrel to serve as incentives for other more vindictive dispositions, and lead the animal away and restore it. You will benefit yourself more than him: he gains an irrational and possibly worthless animal, you the greatest and most precious treasure in the whole world, true goodness. 118And this, as surely as the shadow follows the body, will be followed by a termination of the feud. He, the receiver of a benefit which he has not willed, is drawn toward amity by the kindness which holds him in bondage. You, his helper, with a good action to assist your counsels, are predisposed to thoughts of reconciliation. 119This is what our most holy prophet through all his regulations especially desires to create, unanimity, neighborliness, fellowship, reciprocity of feeling, whereby houses and cities and nations and countries and the whole human race may advance to supreme happiness. 120Hitherto, indeed, these things live only in our prayers, but they will, I am convinced, become facts beyond all dispute, if God, even as He gives us the yearly fruits, grants that the virtues should bear abundantly. And may some share in them be given to us, who from well-nigh our earliest days have carried with us the yearning to possess them.
\n121These and others similar to these are his judgments as applied to the free. In the same strain, as is evident, he legislates for slaves as well, and allows them also to benefit by measures conceived in a spirit of kindness and humanity. 122The serfs who through the lack of the necessaries of life have subjected themselves to servitude to others ought not he holds to suffer anything unworthy of the freedom to which they were born, and he exhorts those who obtain their services to consider how incalculable is fortune and to respect their changed condition. As for the debtors, who through temporary loans have sunk into bearing both the name and the painfulness which their cruel situation entails, and those whom a more imperious compulsion has brought from freedom into slavery, he would not allow them to remain forever in their evil plight, but gave them total remission in the seventh year. 123For creditors who have not recovered the debt, or have gained possession in some other way of those who were formerly free should be content, he says, with six years as a time for their service, and those who were not born to slavery should not be altogether deprived of comforting hope, but should pass back to the old independence of which they were deprived through adverse circumstances. 124And if another man\u2019s slave, it may be with two generations of slavery behind him, takes refuge with you to obtain protection in fear of his master\u2019s threats or through consciousness of some misdeed, or because without having committed any offense, he has found his master generally cruel and merciless, do not disregard his plea. For it is a sacrilegious act to surrender a suppliant and the slave is a suppliant who has fled to your hearth as to a temple, where he has a right to obtain sanctuary, and protected from treachery may preferably come to an honest and open agreement, or if that is not possible, be sold as a last resort. For though in changing masters there is no certainty which way the scale will turn, the uncertain evil is not so grave as the acknowledged.
\n125This is his legislation about compatriots and foreigners, about friends and enemies, about slaves and free and mankind in general. But he carries on the idea of moderation and gentleness to the sphere of irrational animals, and grants them, too, a draught of goodness, as from a sweet and grateful spring. 126He bids them in dealing with the domestic kinds, sheep, goats and oxen, to abstain from availing themselves of their young, by taking them at once either for food or on the grounds of offering them for sacrifice. For he considered that it showed a cruel soul to be lying in wait for the newly born in order to separate instantly mothers and offspring, just to please the belly but still more displease and horrify the soul by so unnatural a meal. 127He says then to him, whose life would conform to his most holy commonwealth, \u201cGood Sir, food for your enjoyment to which no blame can attach you have in abundance. Otherwise such an action might perhaps be pardonable, since poverty and dearth compel us to do many things which we would not. But your duty is to excel in self-restraint and the other virtues, stationed as you are in the most honorable of posts, captained by nature\u2019s right reason, for whose sake you must learn gentleness and admit no brutality into your mind.\u201d 128And what could be more brutal than to bring in from outside other pangs to add to the pangs of travail by separating the mothers straightway from their offspring. For if they are snatched away, the mothers are bound to be in great distress, because of the maternal affection natural to them, particularly at the time of motherhood, when the breasts, whose flowing fountain is obstructed through lack of its suckling, grow indurated and strained by the weight of the milk coagulated within them and suffer a painful oppression. 129\u201cMake a present,\u201d he continues, \u201cof the child to its mother, if not for all time, to be suckled, at least, for the seven first days and do not render useless the fountain which nature has rained into the breasts by destroying the second of the boons which her grace distributes, boons prepared by the profound forethought in which with everlasting and consummate wisdom she looks into the distant sequence of events. 130Her first gift was birth, through which the non-existent is brought into existence, and the second is the efflux of milk, the happily timed aliment which flows so gently fostering the tender growth of every creature. It is at once food and drink, for the watery part of milk is drink, and its denser part food, both provided that the newly born should not suffer from the need, which, never far off, seizes it at different times, but with both kinds of nourishment applied in the same single form should at once escape those bitter mistresses, hunger and thirst.\u201d
\n131Read this law, you good and highly prized parents, and hide your faces for shame, you who ever breathe slaughter against your infants, who mount your wicked watch over them as they leave the womb, waiting to cast them away, you deadly enemies of the whole human race. 132For to whom will you have any feeling of kindliness, you the murderers of your own children, who do what you can to make a desolation of cities and begin the destruction with your own flesh and blood, who overturn the statutes of nature and demolish all that she builds, who in the cruelty of your savage and ferocious souls arm dissolution to fight against generation and death against life? 133Can you not see that our all-excellent lawgiver was at pains to insure that even in the case of irrational animals, the offspring should not be separated from their mother so long as it is being suckled? Still more for your sake, good sirs, was that order given, that if nature does not, instruction may teach you the duty of family love. Learn it from the sight of lambs and kids, who are not hindered from feasting on abundant supplies of what they need. Nature has provided this abundance in places best suited for the purpose, where those who require it will easily find means of enjoyment, while the lawgiver greatly careful for the future looks to see that none interferes with the gifts of God, which bring welfare and safety.
\n134So desirous is he to sow in divers forms the seeds of gentleness and moderation in their minds, that he lays down another enactment of the same nature as the preceding. He forbids them to sacrifice the mother and its offspring on the same day, for if they must be sacrificed, at any rate let it be at different times. It is the height of savagery to slay on the same day the generating cause and the living creature generated. And why does anyone do so? 135It must either be on the ground of sacrificing or to gratify the belly. If sacrifice is the reason, it gives the lie to the name, for such actions are slaughters, not sacrifices. Which of God\u2019s altars will accept oblations so unhallowed; what fire would not fly asunder divided into two, shrinking from union with a thing so ill to blend with? Indeed, I think, it could not last for any time, however short, but would straightway die out, providing as it were that the air and sacred element of breath should not be defiled by the rising flame. 136If the object is not to sacrifice but to feast thereon, who would not spurn the strange and unnatural craving of this monstrous gluttony? For pleasure in abnormal forms is what such persons pursue, but though they have flesh to eat, what pleasure can they have, when the flesh which they taste is that of mother and offspring together? Indeed, if one should mix the limbs of the two and fix them on the spits to eat of the roast, these limbs, I think, would not remain mute, but break out into speech, indignant at the enormity of the unexampled treatment which they suffer, and hurl a host of invectives against the greediness of those who prepare these meats, fitter for a fast than for a feast. 137But observe that the law also banishes from the sacred precincts all pregnant animals and does not permit them to be sacrificed until they have been delivered, thus counting what is still in the depths of the womb as on the same footing as what has already been brought to the birth, not because creatures not yet advanced into the light rank equally with the others, but by implication to restrain the licence of those whose way is to bring everything to disorder. 138For if the life which is still growing like a plant and reckoned as part of the parent which carries it and now is at one with it, but in the course of months will be severed from the common organism, is, in the hope that it will become a living animal, safeguarded by the invulnerability of the mother, to prevent the occurrence of the above said defilement, how much more is this the case with the creatures already brought to the birth and endued with a body and soul of their own? For it is the very height of unholiness to kill mother and offspring on the same occasion and on the same day. 139It was on this principle, I think, that some legislators introduced the law that condemned women who commit deeds worthy of death should, if pregnant, be kept in custody until the child is born, lest their execution should carry with it the destruction of the life within the womb. 140These decrees of theirs apply to human beings, but Moses rising to a further height extended the duty of fair treatment even to irrational animals, so that by practicing on creatures of dissimilar kind we may show humanity in a far fuller measure to beings of like kind to ourselves, abstaining from strokes and counter-strokes to vex each other, and not hoarding our personal good things as treasures, but throwing them into the common stock for all in every place, as for kinsmen and brothers by nature. 141After this let those clever libellers continue, if they can, to accuse the nation of misanthropy and charge the laws with enjoining unsociable and unfriendly practices, when these laws so clearly extend their compassion to flocks and herds, and our people through the instructions of the law learn from their earliest years to correct any wilfulness of souls to gentle behavior.
\n142But so prolific is he in virtue and versatile in giving admirable lessons, that not content with his own prowess, he challenges it to a further contest. He has forbidden any lamb or kid or other like kind of livestock to be snatched away from its mother before it is weaned. He has also forbidden the killing of the mother and offspring on the same day. He now crowns his bounty with the words \u201cThou shalt not seethe a lamb in his mother\u2019s milk.\u201d 143For he held that it was grossly improper that the substance which fed the living animal should be used to season and flavour the same after its death, and that while nature provided for its conservation by creating the stream of milk and ordaining that it should pass through the mother\u2019s breasts as through conduits, the licence of man should rise to such a height as to misuse what had sustained its life to destroy also the body which remains in existence. 144If indeed anyone thinks good to boil flesh in milk, let him do so without cruelty and keeping clear of impiety. Everywhere there are herds of cattle innumerable, which are milked every day by cowherds, goat-herds and shepherds, whose chief source of income as cattle rearers is milk, sometimes liquid and sometimes condensed and coagulated into cheese; and since milk is so abundant, the person who boils the flesh of lambs or kids or any other young animal in their mother\u2019s milk, shows himself cruelly brutal in character and gelded of compassion, that most vital of emotions and most nearly akin to the rational soul.
\n145I also admire another law attuned to the harmonious choir of those above mentioned. This law forbids muzzling the ox when it treads out the corn. It is the ox who, before the deep soiled lowlands receive the seed, cleaves the furrows and sets the fields ready for heaven and the husbandman; for the husbandman that he may sow the seed in due season, for heaven that its kindly gifts of rain may be received in the deep hollows which store them up and deal them out part by part as rich nourishment to the crop, until it brings forth first the ear and then the consummation of the yearly fruit. And after that consummation the ox is again necessary for another service, to purge the sheaves and sift the refuse from the genuine and useful material.
\n146But since I have mentioned the kindly and benevolent injunction on behalf of the oxen when treading the corn, I will cite next the law enacted in behalf of cattle which plough the land. This is a law of the same family. It forbids the yoking together of an ox and an ass for ploughing the land, and has in view not merely the incongruity of the animals, since the ox is clean and the ass belongs to the unclean, and it is not fitting to put together creatures so alien in status, but also their disparity of strength. It takes thought for the weaker, and would not have them suffer discomfort or oppression from superior force, and although the weaker, the ass, is banished from the sacred precincts and the stronger, the ox, is accepted by the law as a victim in sacrifices where perfection is most required, 147it did not despise the weakness of the unclean, nor permit the clean to employ strength rather than justice. Those whose souls have ears can almost hear it speaking plainly in a voice loud and insistent that we should do no wrongs to men of other nations, if we can accuse them of nothing save difference of race, which is no matter for accusation, since nothing which is neither vice nor springs from vice is liable to any impeachment.
\n148So generously does he bestow his mercy 148 that he shows it further in all its richness and profusion by passing, first from rational beings to the irrational, and from the irrational to plants and vegetation. I must proceed at once to these last, as we have treated the first two classes, mankind and those who are endued with animal life. 149On this third subject he gives the plain direction that no trees of the cultivated type are to be cut down, nor the lowland fields mischievously mown in the ear-bearing stage before the proper time, and in general no fruit is to be destroyed, in order that the human race may be well supplied with a rich stock of abundant kinds of food, and that this rich stock may consist, not only of necessaries, but also of things which make life comfortable. For the fruit of the corn-field is set apart as a necessary for the sustenance of men, but the numberless varieties of tree fruits provide the comfortable life, and often in times of dearth a second line of sustenance.
\n150Rising to a still higher pitch he forbids them to devastate the land even of their enemies and enjoins them to abstain from cutting down trees and other forms of ravaging, holding it to be against all reason that indignation against men should be visited on things which are not guilty of any misdeed. 151But further, he calls upon them to look not only to the present, but, as though from some far-off height, with the keen-sighted vision of reason to consider the future also. For no one continues in the same stay, but all things are subject to vicissitudes and mutations, so that it may be expected that our enemies for the time may send ambassadors to initiate negotiations and straightway come to amicable terms. 152Now as friends it would be a great hardship to deprive them of the necessities of life and by so doing lay nothing by which may be of service to meet the uncertainty of the future. It is a very admirable saying of the ancients that in joining friendship we should not ignore the possibility of enmity, and conduct our quarrels with future friendship in view, so that everyone in his own nature lays by something to ensure his safety, and does not, through having neither deeds nor words to clothe his nakedness, repent the past and blame himself when it is no use, for his overcarelessness. 153This maxim should also be observed by states, who in peace should provide for the needs of war and in war for the needs of peace and be slow to trust their allies too freely, assuming that they will never change and become opponents, nor yet absolutely distrust their enemies as though they could never pass over into amity. 154But even if we need not do anything to help an enemy in hope of reconciliation, no plant is our enemy, but they are all pacific and serviceable, while the cultivated kind are particularly necessary, as their fruit is either food in the full sense or a possession as valuable as food. Why then should we carry on hostilities against trees which are not hostile, by cutting them down or burning them or pulling them up by the roots\u2014these trees, which nature itself has brought to their fullness with the waters which it showers and the breezes which it tempers so happily, that they may pay their yearly tributes to mankind as subjects to a king?
\n155Like a good guardian he was also concerned to produce the strength and robustness which training gives, not only in animals but in plants, particularly in the cultivated kind, since they deserve more care and have not the same vigor as the wild species, but need the husbandman\u2019s science to give them greater force and power. 156He bids them nurse the newly planted trees for three successive years, both by cutting off their superfluous overgrowths, to save them from being oppressed by the weight and starved into exhaustion through the subdivision of the nutriment, and also by digging rings and trenches around them, so that nothing mischievous may spring up at their side and hinder their growth. Also he does not permit them to pick the fruit to get enjoyment, not only because from the incomplete plant only incomplete fruit could come, just as animals not fully grown are not fully ripe for breeding, but also because of the damage it would do to the young plants, which are still, so to speak, lying low just above the ground, by preventing them from shooting. 157Thus many farmers during the spring season watch the young trees to squeeze off at once any fruit they bear before they advance in quality and size, for fear of weakening the parent plants. For, if these precautions are not taken, the result is that when they should bear fully ripened fruit they bring forth either nothing at all or abortions nipped in the bud, exhausted as they are by the labor of prematurely bearing the crops which lay such a weight upon the branches that at last they wear out the trunk and roots as well. 158But after three years when the roots have sunk deep in and are more firmly attached to the soil, and the trunk supported as it were on immovable foundations has grown and acquired vigor, it will be able to bear fully in the fourth year in harmony with the perfect number four. 159But in this fourth year he commands them not to pluck the fruit for their own enjoyment allowed to grow to a stage in which it could be picked for enjoyment but to dedicate the whole of it as a firstfruit to God, partly as a thank offering for the past, partly in hope of fertility to come and the acquisition of wealth to which this will lead. 160You see how great is the kindness and graciousness which he shows, and how liberally he has spread it on every kind, first of men, even though it be an alien or an enemy, then of irrational animals, even though they be unclean, and last of all of sown crops and also trees. For he who has first learnt the lesson of fairness in dealing with the unconscious forms of existence will not offend against any that are endued with animal life, and he who does not set himself to molest the animal creation is trained by implication to extend his care to reasonable beings.
\n161With such instructions he tamed and softened the minds of the citizens of his commonwealth and set them out of the reach of pride and arrogance, evil qualities, grievous and noxious in the highest degree, though embraced as most excellent by the majority of men, particularly when riches and distinctions and high offices bestow their gifts in unstinted superabundance. 162For arrogance springs up in the insignificant and obscure, as does each of the other passions and diseases and distempers of the soul, though it does not increase to any extent and grows dull as fire does for want of its essential fuel. But it is conspicuous in the great, who as I have said are amply provided with the evil thing by riches and distinctions and high offices and so charged with these, like men who have drunk deep of strong wine, become intoxicated and vent their sottish rage on slave and free alike and sometimes on whole cities. For \u201csatiety begets insolence,\u201d as the ancients have said. 163And therefore Moses in his work as Revealer admirably exhorts them to abstain from all sins, but especially from pride. Then he reminds them of the causes which are wont to inflame this passion, unlimited means of satisfying the belly and unstinted superabundance of houses and land and cattle. For men at once lose their self-mastery, and are elated and puffed up, and the one hope of their cure is that they should never lose the remembrance of God. 164For as when the sun has risen the darkness disappears, 164 and all things are filled with light, so when God, the spiritual sun, rises and shines upon the soul, the gloomy night of passions and vices is scattered, and virtue reveals the peerless brightness of her form in all its purity and loveliness.
\n165And judging it well still further to repress and destroy pride, he recites the reasons why they should keep the memory of God, as an image enshrined, never to be forgotten. \u201cFor He,\u201d he says, \u201cgives thee strength to make power\u201d\u2014words full of instruction, for he who has been carefully taught that his vigor and robustness is a gift received from God will take account of his own natural weakness, the weakness which was his before he enjoyed the gift of God, and will thrust aside the spirit of lofty arrogance and give thanks to Him who brought about the happy change. And the thankful soul is the enemy of arrogance, just as conversely unthankfulness is akin to pride. 166What he means to say is \u201cif thy fortunes are thriving and lusty, if thou hast received and gained possession of strength, which perhaps thou didst not expect, make power.\u201d What this signifies must be clearly explained to those who fail to discern the full meaning. Many persons try to do to others the opposite of the good which they have experienced. They become rich and make others poor, or having received a great measure of glory and honor they bring about ingloriousness and dishonor to others. 167Rather should the wise man, as far as possible, impart to his neighbors his sagacity, the continent his temperance, the valiant his gallantry, the just his justice, and in general the good his goodness. For these are evidently powers, and the man of worth will aim at these as most akin to himself, while impotence and weakness, their opposites, are alien to upright character. 168Especially does he give this lesson as most suitable to the rational nature that a man should imitate God as much as may be and leave nothing undone that may promote such assimilation as is possible.
\n\u201cWhen then,\u201d he says, \u201cyou have received strength from the most powerful, give of your strength to others and do to them as has been done to you, that you may imitate God by bestowing freely boons of the same kind. 169For the gifts of the Chief Ruler are of universal benefit, given to some, not to be hidden by them when received, nor misused to harm others, but thrown into the common stock so that as in a public banquet they may invite as many as they possibly can to use and enjoy them. 170We say then to him who has much wealth or reputation or soundness of body or knowledge, that he should make those whom he meets rich, highly reputed, well-conditioned in body, and full of knowledge, and in general good, instead of preferring jealousy and envy to virtue and setting himself in opposition to those who might thrive in these ways. 171But with the men of windy pride, whose intensified arrogance sets them quite beyond cure, the law deals admirably in not bringing them to be judged by men but handing them over to the divine tribunal only, for it says, \u201cWhosoever sets his hand to do anything with presumptuousness provokes God.\u201d Why is this? 172First, because arrogance is a vice of the soul and the soul is invisible save only to God. Chastisement is not for the blind to give but for him who can see; in the one it deserves censure, because his ignorance bears witness against him, in the other it is laudable, because he acts throughout with knowledge. Secondly, the arrogant man is always filled with the spirit of unreason, holding himself, as Pindar says, to be neither man nor demigod, but wholly divine, and claiming to overstep the limits of human nature. 173His body like his soul is at fault in every posture and movement. With haughty airs and perked up neck he struts about rising above his natural stature, puffs himself out, sees only by looking out of the side of his eyes, and hears only to misunderstand. Slaves he treats as cattle, the free as slaves, kinsfolk as strangers, friends as parasites, fellow citizens as foreigners. 174He considers himself superior to all in riches, estimation, beauty, strength, wisdom, temperance, justice, eloquence, knowledge; while everyone else he regards as poor, disesteemed, unhonored, foolish, unjust, ignorant, outcast, in fact good-for-nothing. Naturally such a person will, as the Revealer tells us, have God for his accuser and avenger.<\/p>\n
On the Contemplative Life<\/p>\n
David M. Hay<\/p>\n
Philo\u2019s treatise On the Contemplative Life describes the Therapeutae, a community of Jewish men and women ascetics who reside in a somewhat isolated region near Alexandria, Egypt, in the 1st century ce. Devoted to scriptural study and worship, they maintain an austere lifestyle, including celibacy and abandonment of private property. Most of their time is devoted to solitary study and contemplation, but periodically they gather for worship and biblical sermons or lectures.
\nThe form of the treatise makes it unusual among Philo\u2019s works. Unlike most of them, it is not a biblical commentary, although it describes a community of industrious biblical exegetes. Nor is it a philosophical treatise, though he describes the Therapeutae as philosophers. It has often been classified as one of Philo\u2019s \u201capologetic writings,\u201d but it is not organized around a thesis (in contrast to his That Every Good Person Is Free), nor does it seem to have as a principal aim the defense of Jews or Judaism (in contrast to his Hypothetica). Perhaps it might best be regarded as an account of a distinctive Jewish community that Philo regards as attaining the height of human perfection (Contempl. Life 90). Some sizable sections of the work (primarily 3\u201310 and 40\u201363, not included here) describe pagan polytheism and deplorable dinner parties; these negative passages point up the excellence of the Therapeutic way of life in general and the sanctity of their dinner gatherings.
\nThe work seems to be aimed at an audience familiar with paganism and pagan literature, though gradually Philo makes the Jewish identity of the Therapeutae unmistakable (the Jewishness of the group is plain only from 63 onward). Philo\u2019s laudatory account of the Therapeutae may in fact rely on a familiar literary template for describing religious ascetics, a template also used in an encomium of Egyptian priests written by one of Philo\u2019s pagan contemporaries, Chaeremon. Philo\u2019s treatise describes the customary or rule-guided actions of the Therapeutae, with no reference to individual variations or lapses (see, e.g., 30\u201331). It seems likely that he bases his account at least partly on personal contacts he has had with the Therapeutae, but he never says so.
\nPhilo probably hoped that his treatise would appeal to sympathetic Gentiles as well as to Jews familiar with Greek writers, from Homer to Plato. Although he offers some puzzlingly sharp criticism of Plato at one point, the treatise as a whole seems strongly influenced by Platonic concepts of immaterial realities and philosophical contemplation. The treatise portrays the Therapeutic way of life in terms that might win the respect or admiration of Jews and non-Jews alike. (For a rather similar positive view of pagan culture, see the Let. Aris. 121\u201322.) One of the results is that Philo describes the customary actions of the Therapeutae, but only occasionally mentions their motives or purposes (e.g., in 20, 39, 68).
\nPhilo begins the treatise by mentioning that he has previously written about the Essenes, who are outstanding representatives of the \u201cpractical life,\u201d but goes on to say that he will now describe an even better group whose focus is the \u201ccontemplative life.\u201d He begins by comparing the excellence of their worship of God to those who worship other deities and idols (1\u201312). He then goes on to speak of Therapeutae (this term includes both men and women) as lovers of God who have left families, friends, and property to live outside cities (13\u201320). He says, rather cryptically, that Therapeutae are found all over the world, but that \u201cthe best of them\u201d come from all over to reside in a well-situated settlement just south of Alexandria beside the Mareotic Lake (21\u201323). They live alone in individual houses, the main feature of each being its \u201csanctuary,\u201d a room in which they spend most of their days pursuing allegorical study of the Bible, meditation on God, and the writing of hymns. They assemble every seventh day, however, to hear a discourse. Then Philo gives details about their ascetic self-control, involving lengthy fasts, a sparse diet, and inexpensive clothing (24\u201339).
\nAfter a long interruption, describing other people\u2019s immoral banquets (40\u201363), he resumes his account of the Therapeutae with an extended description of their 50th-day festivals. They assemble in white robes, line up in order, and begin with prayers. The president gives a speech on some issue of biblical interpretation, emphasizing allegorical interpretation since the group gives most attention to inward meanings concealed behind the literal sense of the text (75\u201378). Then each of the members, beginning with the president, sings a solo hymn. Afterward, some more recent members of the community bring in the food: bread, seasoned with salt and hyssop, plus water. After supper there is an all-night \u201cvigil,\u201d consisting of choral singing and dancing. At first the men and women form separate choruses, but eventually they merge into one, in imitation of the male and female Israelites led by Moses and Miriam, who sang songs of thanksgiving to celebrate God\u2019s miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea (Exod. 15). At dawn they pray and depart to their private dwellings and \u201csanctuaries,\u201d where they resume their religious labors. Philo concludes by declaring that the Therapeutae have reached the summit of human excellence and happiness, living \u201cin the soul alone\u201d as friends of God (79\u201390).
\nFor more on Philo, see the essay \u201cThe Writings of Philo,\u201d elsewhere in these volumes.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
As far as our evidence goes, ancient Jewish writers after Philo\u2019s time never referred to the Therapeutae or to Contemplative Life, just as they ignored his other writings. Christian writers, however, at least by the 4th century CE, manifested a keen interest in this treatise. Eusebius of Caesarea (Hist. eccl. 2:16:2\u201317:24; 18:7) summarized the treatise at length because he thought that it described 1st-century Egyptian Christians. Epiphanius (Pan. 1:29:5:1\u20133) and Jerome (Vir. ill. 11:1\u20132, 6) followed this line of interpretation, which became the standard Christian view down to the 16th century. All the Christian writers of later times who mentioned the Therapeutae appear to have depended entirely upon Philo\u2019s treatise for their information. In the 19th century a number of scholars argued that Contemplative Life was falsely attributed to Philo and that it was an artful Christian forgery of the 3rd or 4th century, designed to recommend monasticism as an invention of the 1st-century church. Since the end of the 19th century, however, nearly all scholars have agreed that Philo really wrote the treatise and that the Lake Mareotis community he describes was Jewish, not Christian.
\nSome recent scholarship has focused on the question of whether Philo\u2019s account of the Therapeutae should be construed as a historically reliable report, as an idealization of an actual group, or as a utopian fiction. Given Philo\u2019s precise location of the group\u2019s residence, in the immediate vicinity of Alexandria, it seems unlikely that he is describing a purely imaginary group. One point of comparison has been Philo\u2019s accounts of the Essenes, which are widely regarded as historically quite reliable. Some scholars have argued that the Therapeutae were a subgroup of the Essenes, others that the groups were essentially independent. Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, many investigators have pointed out some similarities between the groups described there and in Contemplative Life.
\nAnother focus of modern attention has been the treatise\u2019s depiction of women members of the community (the \u201cTherapeutrides\u201d\u2014see 2). These women seem to be represented as fully equal to their male associates in both religious dedication and intellectual activity; this depiction is in some contrast to Philo\u2019s tendency in other treatises to regard women as intellectually and religiously inferior to men (e.g., QE 1:7: \u201cThe female is nothing else than an imperfect male\u201d). Some modern interpreters have speculated that Therapeutae might have authored the Testament of Job or Joseph and Aseneth, two hellenistic Jewish writings of the same general period that also give prominence to women.
\nThere are aspects of the Therapeutic community on which some modern readers (and perhaps ancient ones as well) have wished Philo had said more. He gives only a few hints about the organization and leadership of the community, says nothing about procedures for admission or discipline, nothing about violation of community rules or restitution, nothing about the economic support system, and very little about the relation of the Lake Mareotis community to outsiders (especially their relationship with the Jewish community in Alexandria, which must have periodically supplied new recruits). A final notable feature of the treatise is that Philo says almost nothing about any distinctive beliefs or biblical interpretations accepted by the Therapeutae. He offers an extensive description of how they lived, but says little about what they thought.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Engberg-Pedersen, T. \u201cPhilo\u2019s De vita contemplativa as a Philosopher\u2019s Dream.\u201d JSJ 30 (1999): 40\u201364.
\nGusella, L. \u201cThe Therapeutae and Other Community Experiences of the Late Second Temple Period.\u201d Hen 24 (2002): 295\u2013329.
\nHay, D. M. \u201cThe Veiled Thoughts of the Therapeutae.\u201d In Mediators of the Divine: Horizons of Prophecy, Divination, Dreams, and Theurgy in Mediterranean Antiquity, edited by Robert M. Berchman, 167\u201384. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998.
\nKraemer, R. S. \u201cMonastic Jewish Women in Greco-Roman Egypt: Philo Judaeus on the Therapeutrides.\u201d Signs 14 (1989): 342\u201370.
\nTaylor, J. E. Jewish Women Philosophers of First-Century Alexandria: Philo\u2019s \u201cTherapeutae\u201d Reconsidered. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
\nVermes, G. \u201cEssenes, Therapeutae, Qumran.\u201d Durham University Journal 52 (1960): 97\u2013115.
\nWinston, D. Philo of Alexandria: The Contemplative Life, the Giants, and Selections. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1981.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
1Having written about the Essenes, who pursue and toil at the practical life and excel in all or\u2014at any rate to speak more cautiously\u2014in most areas, I will now describe what fits those who have embraced contemplation, following the sequence of the matter. I will not add anything out of my imagination to enhance (their virtues), which all poets and prose writers usually do to cover up a lack of good conduct. Rather I will without art stick firmly to the truth. I realize that the task is such as might unnerve the most capable writer, but one must try to do as much as one can. The extraordinary virtue of these persons should not paralyze writers who believe it wrong to leave any excellence unmentioned.
\n2The vocation of these philosophers is shown at once by their name. For they are called \u201cTherapeutae\u201d and \u201cTherapeutrides\u201d in accord with the meaning of the word, either because they claim to provide a kind of healing superior to that found in cities (for that cures only physical bodies, but theirs deals also with souls oppressed by dangerous diseases which are hard to cure, ones inflicted by pleasures, desires, griefs, fears, and greedy, senseless and unrighteous longings and the unending multitude of other passions and evil things) or because they have been taught by nature and the sacred laws to worship the Existent, who is better than the Good, purer than the One, and more primal than the Monad.\u2026
\n11But let the company of the Therapeutae, taught from youth always to see, strive for the vision of the Existent and pass beyond the visible sun, never giving up this quest, which leads to perfect happiness. 12And those who commit to this therapy, not because of custom or the counsel or exhortation of others, but because they have been seized by a heavenly love and are persons possessed until they see what they long for, like Bacchants and Corybants.
\n13And because of their love of the deathless and blessed life they judge that their mortal life has already come to an end. So they abandon their property to sons or daughters or other relatives, voluntarily passing on their legacies in advance. If they have no relatives, they give their property to companions and friends. For it is fitting that persons who have the wealth of vision should at once hand over the wealth that is blind to persons whose minds are blind. 14The Greeks praise Anaxagoras and Democritus because, struck by love of philosophy, they allowed their property to be overrun by animals. I admire these men and their concern for nonmaterial things. Yet how much better are persons who do not turn over their fields to grazing animals but rather provide for persons in need, whether relatives or friends, thus making impoverished persons rich. The former were careless (I will not call them \u201cinsane,\u201d since Greece venerates them), while the latter show sobriety, sound judgment, and unusual carefulness. 15What worse thing do hostile armies do than to destroy crops and chop down trees in the opposing country so as to force their foes to surrender because of the scarcity of necessities? This is what Democritus did to his relatives, causing them unnecessary destitution and poverty, perhaps not intentionally but through lack of foresight and consideration of what might help them. 16How much better and more deserving of admiration are those who have acted with no less passion for philosophy, preferring generosity to neglect and giving away their property (rather than destroying it) in a manner that benefits other persons as well as themselves\u2014the other persons through plentiful possessions, themselves through engaging in philosophy. For taking care of wealth and possessions is time-consuming, and it is good to conserve time. As Hippocrates the physician said, \u201cLife is short, art is long.\u201d 17I think Homer expressed this symbolically at the beginning of the thirteenth book of his Iliad by saying, \u201cThe Mysians, hand- to-hand fighters and noble drinkers of mare\u2019s milk\u2014they live simply on milk and are the most righteous of men.\u201d The meaning is that anxiety about livelihood and earning money causes injustice by way of inequality, whereas justice arises from the opposite commitment to equality, by which the wealth of nature is determined and surpasses what vain opinion considers wealth.
\n18When, then, they have given up their possessions, not being trapped by anything, they depart without a backward glance, abandoning siblings, children, wives, parents, all kinds of relations, loving friends, the homelands in which they were born and raised\u2014since whatever is familiar is appealing and has great power to ensnare. 19Furthermore, they do not move to another city, like unlucky or wicked slaves who petition to be sold by their owners and by this means gain a change of masters rather than freedom. For every city, even the most law-abiding one, is full of tumults and disorders beyond counting, which no one who has once been guided by wisdom can endure. 20Instead they live their lives outside city walls, pursuing solitude in gardens or lonely places. This is not because of any bitter misanthropy which they have cultivated, but simply because they recognize that association with people of contrary character is unprofitable and harmful.
\n21The type is found in many parts of the civilized world (since perfect goodness must exist among Greeks and Barbarians alike), but it abounds in Egypt in each of the regions called \u201cnomes\u201d and especially in the vicinity of Alexandria. 22The best from all lands, however, travel to a particularly appropriate place situated on a low hill just north of Lake Mareotis, which they regard as their fatherland. The location is advantageous in relation to both security and the mixture of the air. 23The buildings and villages surrounding it provide security, and the frequent breezes that rise both from the lake, which empties into the sea, and from the open sea, which is nearby, produce the healthy air. The sea breezes are delicate, while those from the lake are heavy; their mixture provides the healthy atmosphere.
\n24The houses of those who have come together are remarkably simple, providing protection against two inevitable hazards, the heat of the sun and the bitter cold of the air. They are not located close together like houses in the towns since close proximity would be troublesome and distasteful to persons who seek and pursue solitude. On the other hand, they are not far apart because they cherish fellowship and so that they can help one another in case of attack by robbers. 25In each house there is a sacred room, which is called the \u201csanctuary\u201d or \u201cplace to be alone.\u201d In these rooms they are initiated into the mysteries of the sanctified life. They take no drink, food, or anything else serving the needs of the body into these sanctuaries, but only laws, prophetic oracles, and hymns and the other things by means of which knowledge and piety grow and are brought to perfection. 26They always keep God in mind, so that even in dreams they think about nothing except the beauties of the divine excellences and powers. Many of them express the famous teachings of their sacred philosophy even while asleep and dreaming. 27It is their custom to pray two times each day, in the morning and in the evening. At sunrise they ask for a good day, one which is truly good, so that their minds are filled with heavenly light. At sunset they pray that their souls may be completely set free from the pressure of the senses and the crowd of sense perceptions and, becoming their own councils and council chambers, follow the trail of truth. 28The entire interval between morning and evening is given to spiritual exercise. For they read the sacred writings and investigate the ancestral philosophy by allegorizing, since they consider the literal meanings to be symbols of a hidden nature which is revealed in underlying meanings.
\n29They also have writings of men of a previous generation who became the founders of the movement. These men left behind many expressions of the principle expressed in allegory, which they use as models, imitating that method of study. As a consequence they not only practice contemplation but also produce songs and hymns to God in all sorts of meters and melodies, which they necessarily inscribe in solemn rhythms.
\n30For six days in the week they live in solitude, philosophizing by themselves in the \u201cplaces to be alone\u201d already mentioned, not going outside their exterior doors or even looking at them from a distance. On the seventh day they come together as to a common assembly and sit in order by age with the proper posture: keeping their hands inside their robes, the right hand between chest and chin, the left hand drawn back along the flank. 31Then the person who is most senior and most experienced in the doctrines comes forward. Composed in appearance and calm of voice, he presents a well-reasoned and wise discourse. He does not make a display with clever words like the orators and sophists, but interprets the truth of the ideas after closely examining them. His talk does not stop at the tips of his listeners\u2019 ears but enters into their souls and lodges there securely. All the others listen in silence, showing their agreement simply by facial expressions or nods of the heads.
\n32The common sanctuary, in which they meet every seventh day, has two parts, one section for men and the other for women. For it is their custom to have women present as listeners because the women have the same zeal and commitment. 33The dividing wall rises three or four cubits from the floor like a breastwork, without reaching as high as the ceiling. This serves two purposes: the honor of the feminine nature is preserved, and the women can sit and hear without difficulty since the voice of the speaker is not obstructed.
\n34Having begun by making self-control a kind of foundation for their soul, they build the other virtues on it. None of them would consume food or drink before sunset because they judge the work of philosophy to deserve the light while darkness suits the necessities of the body, so they devote daytime to the first and a small part of the night to the latter. 35Some remember to eat food only after three days, since the desire for knowledge is more deeply implanted in them. Others so enjoy and are so well nourished by feasting on the doctrines which wisdom supplies richly and unstintingly, that they hold out for twice as long and after six days hardly eat necessary food. They have become accustomed to such abstinence, like grasshoppers who, they say, feed on air because, I suppose, their song makes it easy for them to live with so little. 36Because they regard the seventh day as most holy and a chief feast, they pay it special honor by caring for the body after providing for the soul. Likewise they release the cattle from their constant toil. 37And they eat nothing costly but only common bread seasoned with salt, to which those of more delicate taste add hyssop, and their drink is spring water. Since nature has set hunger and thirst as mistresses over mortal beings, they care for these things without adding anything superfluous, confining themselves to the necessities without which life becomes impossible. So they eat to dispel hunger and drink to overcome thirst, but regard superfluity as an enemy and betrayer of the soul as well as the body.
\n38As for the two kinds of covering, the one of clothing and the other of shelter, we have already spoken about the housing, which is plain and rough, built only for utility. Likewise their clothes are inexpensive, designed for protection against the icy cold and the heat: a thick cloak of shaggy leather for winter and a sleeveless vest or linen jacket for summer. 39Thus they live simply in all respects, recognizing that vanity is the source of falsehood, freedom from vanity the source of truth, each being a kind of fountain. For many kinds of evil flow from falsehood, and abundant kinds of human and divine goodness flow from truth.
\n40I also want to speak about their common meetings and the cheerful ways in which they conduct their banquets, in contrast to other people\u2019s dinner parties.\u2026
\n64But because these famous banquets are full of such foolishness, they condemn themselves, if one disregards conventional opinion and the ordinary view that these banquets were entirely proper. By way of contrast, I will describe the banquets of those persons who have dedicated their lives and themselves to knowledge and contemplation of the things of nature in accord with the supremely sacred teachings of the prophet Moses. 65First of all, these people gather together after seven weeks, showing reverence not only for the seventh day but also for the square of seven; for they know that it is holy and ever-virgin. And it is the evening of the great feast, which comes on day fifty, fifty being the most sacred number and the one most in accord with nature, based on the square of the right-angled triangle, which is the beginning of the formation of the universe.
\n66When therefore they come together, dressed in white and with the most solemn joy, one of those on duty for the day\u2014for such is the title given by custom to those who perform these services\u2014gives a quiet signal. Then, before they recline at table, they stand in order in a regular line, with eyes and hands lifted up to heaven. They raise their eyes, since they have been trained to give attention to things worthy of contemplation. They raise their hands to show that they are clean and uncontaminated by any money-making or even the appearance of commerce. They pray to God that their feast may be acceptable and in accord with God\u2019s will.
\n67After the prayers the seniors recline in order of their admission, for they do not consider persons of advanced years or gray heads to be true seniors but only young children if they have come to love this commitment only in advanced years. For them true seniors are persons who have from an early age spent their lives devoted to the contemplative branch of philosophy, which is indeed the most beautiful and divine part. 68Women also take part in the feast. Most of them are elderly virgins who have preserved their purity not because they had to\u2014like some Greek priestesses\u2014but by choice. Their choice is based on zeal and thirst for wisdom. They have been eager to live with wisdom and therefore have ignored the pleasures of the body, desiring not mortal children but immortal ones. Only the soul which is beloved by God can bear such offspring by herself, after the Father has sown in her the intellectual light-rays which enable her to perceive the doctrines of wisdom.
\n69The reclining places are arranged so that the men and women are separated, the men on the right, the women on the left. Should one assume that the couch cushions are, if not luxurious, at least soft in keeping with the members\u2019 good birth, nobility, and philosophical discipline? In fact, they are benches made of the most common material, with cheap papyrus coverlets, raised a little at the arms so that they may be leaned on. They modify the stark austerity of Sparta a little, yet always and everywhere practice the frugality and contentment of free persons, resisting with all their strength the seductive charms of pleasure. 70No slaves serve them because they believe that owning slaves is entirely opposed to nature. Nature has borne everyone to be free, but the injustices and greedy desires of some who pursue inequality, that source of evil, have imposed a yoke so that the stronger control the weaker. 71At this sacred banquet, as I have said, there is no slave, but free persons serve, providing the necessary services not under compulsion as though subject to orders, but voluntarily and cheerfully anticipating the requests that are made. 72Not just any free person is appointed to this service, but the recent members of the community who are selected with all care and who are pressing on to reach the pinnacle of virtue in keeping with their nobility and good birth. Like sons of their real mothers and fathers they provide their services gladly and proudly. They consider them the common parents of them all, more closely related than blood parents, because to those who think rightly no one can be a closer relative than those who live nobly and well. They provide their services ungirt and with tunics hanging down, precisely so that they will not look at all like slaves.
\n73To this banquet\u2014I know that some persons will laugh when they hear this, but these are persons whose own actions deserve tears and sorrow\u2014no wine is brought on these days but only the purest water, cold for most of the participants but heated for the more fastidious seniors. Likewise the table is kept pure from meat. It has on it only loaves of bread, with salt for seasoning, sometimes hyssop being added as well for those who have more delicate appetites. 74Right reason teaches those who share this life to abstain from wine, just as it teaches that lesson to priests when they offer sacrifices. For wine is the drug that induces folly, and rich dishes stir up desire, that most insatiable of creatures.
\n75These are the preliminaries. Then, after the participants in the banquet have reclined in the order I have revealed, while the servants stand ready in an orderly way, their president, when a profound silence has fallen on the whole company\u2014perhaps someone will ask, when are they not quiet? But at this point there is a silence greater than that which has gone before, so that no one ventures to murmur or even breathe loudly. He [the president] seeks to explain something in the sacred writings or resolve a problem raised by someone else. He does not speak out of any concern to make a display, since he is not seeking a fine reputation for impressive language. Rather he desires to gain a more accurate grasp of something and, having gained it, not fail to share it with those who may not have minds as sharp as his but who have an equally strong desire to learn. 76He teaches in a leisurely way. He does not hurry and he expands his talk with repetitions, thereby engraving his ideas on the souls of the listeners. For, if a fluent speaker goes too fast, the minds of the hearers cannot keep up, fall behind and are unable to grasp what is said. 77The audience listens with pricked ears and raised eyes, all maintaining the same posture. They show their comprehension of what he says by nods and glances, approval by cheerfulness and a gradual turning of their faces, perplexity by a quieter movement of the head and by raising the fingertip of the right hand. The young men standing by pay just as much attention as do those who recline. 78The interpretations of the sacred Scriptures are given through hidden meanings in allegories. For these people think that the entire law is like a living animal, the body corresponding to the literal commandments, the soul corresponding to the invisible meaning stored up in the words. In this meaning the rational soul begins to distinguish and see the things that are like itself, looking through the words, as through a mirror, and perceiving the extraordinary beauties of the concepts. That mind perceives the things revealed and discloses and reveals the symbols, leading forth the ideas naked for those who are able through a little reminding to see the invisible by means of the visible.
\n79Then when the president seems to have spoken sufficiently and in accord with the discipline to have realized the target which the discourse properly aimed at with these efforts, and in accord with the persons for whom the lecture was given, everyone claps to indicate their common delight at what is yet to come. 80Then the president stands up and sings a hymn to God, either a new one he has composed himself or an old one from the poets of old, who have left behind hymns beautifully designed in many measures and melodies, hexameters, for processions, libations, and at the altars, or for a chorus while standing or dancing, well shaped metrically for its various movements. After this the others take their turns in order, while all the rest listen in silence, except when they need to sing the final lines and refrains. For then all the men and women take part. 81When everyone has completed his or her hymn, the recent members of the group bring in the table already mentioned, on which is set the purest meal of leavened bread seasoned with salt and hyssop. This is done out of respect for the table set in the sacred vestibule of the Temple, on which are set loaves of bread and salt without any seasoning, that bread being unleavened and the salt unmixed. 82For it was fitting that the simplest and purest food should be reserved for the highest class, that of the priests, as a reward for their service, while the others should seek similar but not identical foods, so that their superiors retain their preeminence.
\n83After the meal they keep the sacred all-night festival. Now this is how the all-night festival is celebrated. The entire company stands up together and forms two choruses at first in the middle of the dinning room, one of men, the other of women. The most honored and musical person is chosen as director and leader of each of the choruses. 84Then they sing hymns to God that have been composed in many rhythms and melodies, sometimes singing together, sometimes singing in antiphonal harmonies, gesturing and dancing and filled with enthusiasm, now in a procession, now while standing still, sometimes moving in a dance line from right to left and then from left to right.
\n85Then when each of the choirs has performed its own part by itself, as in the Bacchic revels having drunk of the strong wine of those who are beloved by God, they mingle together and become a single choir, a copy of that one which of old was set up by the Red Sea because of the miracles that took place there. 86For at the command of God the sea became a cause of salvation for one group and destruction for the other. For when the sea was broken up and pushed back by violent forces forcing it back, there rose on either side solid walls facing each other. The space in between became a dry path and open road for all, by which means the people were escorted to higher ground on the opposite shore. On the other hand, when the water rushed back from both sides across the space that had been dry, the pursuing soldiers were engulfed and destroyed. 87Seeing and experiencing this, a deed surpassing word and thought and hope, both men and women were inspired by God, and, having become a single chorus, sang thanksgiving hymns to God as their Savior, Moses the prophet leading the men, Miriam the prophetess leading the women.
\n88It is on this model above all that the choir of the Therapeutae and Therapeutrides, their notes and voices answering one another and the women\u2019s high voices mixing with the lower voices of the men, create a true musical harmony. Their thoughts and words are surpassingly beautiful, and the singers are sanctified. And the goal of thoughts, words, and singers is piety. 89Intoxicated till dawn therefore with this splendid drunkenness, in which there is no headache or drowsiness, being more awake and alert than when they came to the banquet, they stand with eyes and the whole body turned toward the east. When they see the sunrise, they stretch out their hands to heaven and pray for bright days, truth, and keenness of mind. Then, after praying, they all return to their individual sanctuaries to resume cultivating their philosophical studies.
\n90Such are the Therapeutae, who have embraced the contemplation of nature and the things in it. They live in the soul alone as citizens of both heaven and earth. Their virtue commends them to the Father and Maker of the universe, making them friends of God and adding the most suitable reward, that of nobility and goodness, something better than all good fortune, which brings them to the very summit of felicity.<\/p>\n
Hypothetica<\/p>\n
Gregory E. Sterling<\/p>\n
In his Preparation for the Gospel, Eusebius (ca. 260\u2013ca. 339 CE Bishop of Caesarea from ca. 313\u2013339) preserved two related fragments that he attributed to Philo. He ascribed one fragment to the first scroll of a work entitled Hypothetica that \u201cargued on behalf of the Jews against their accusers\u201d (Hypoth. 8.5.11\u20137.20). The fragment offers explanations for the Exodus, Moses\u2019s qualities as a leader in the wilderness, and the settlement in the land (8.6.1\u20139), and includes a summary of the law code (8.7.1\u201320).
\nThe treatments of the Exodus, the wilderness, and the settlement in the Land of Israel play freely with biblical traditions in an effort to exonerate the Jews and Moses of scurrilous charges by arguing on the basis of logical probabilities rather than historical evidence. In contrast to the widespread story that the Jews were Egyptian lepers who were thrown into the wilderness, Philo argues that they were originally from Chaldea and left Egypt as a result of a flourishing population, a revelation from God, and the people\u2019s desire to return to their ancestral home. He notes that although some have \u201crailed at [Moses] as a trickster and rogue\u201d (8.6.2) his success in overcoming the hardships of the wilderness must be due either to his brilliance or to the submissive nature of the people. In response to the charge that the Jews had forcefully taken the land and violated temples, he positions the reader to accept an either\/or explanation: Either they took the land as a result of the force of their numbers\u2014an explanation that non-Jewish accounts had attempted to undermine by downplaying their numbers\u2014or received it peacefully from the inhabitants, who welcomed them.
\nThe most important characteristic of the people who settled in the land was their loyalty to the law. The mention of this quality leads to a fivefold summary of the law. The summary concludes with a defense of the Sabbath, when the Jews learn their laws thoroughly (8.7.10\u201314), and of the seventh year, when they allow the land to lie fallow to regenerate itself (8.7.15\u201320). Both explanations counter the charge that the Jews were lazy.
\nLater the bishop quotes a fragment \u201cfrom [Philo\u2019s] apology on behalf of the Jews\u201d that provides a brief summary of the Essenes, whom even kings admire (8.10.19\u201311.18). The Essenes join their association voluntarily (8.11.2\u20133). The association requires a common life (8.11.4\u20135). While each member has an occupation (8.11.6\u20139), he contributes his wages into a common treasury (8.11.10). The common life extends to meals, clothes, and health care (8.11.11\u201313). They reject marriage, which could undermine their commitment to a common way of life (8.11.14\u201317).
\nThe two excerpts are probably from the same work. Eusebius most likely dropped the opaque title Hypothetica when he introduced the second fragment and repeated his characterization of the work as an apology. He hints at this when he divides the Jewish people into two groups in his preface to the second fragment: the multitude follow the literal meaning of the law\u2014probably a reference back to the earlier summary (frag. 1), whereas the philosophical group of Essenes (frag. 2) advances to higher forms of contemplation (8.10.18\u201319). The introduction thus serves as a bridge from the contents of fragment 1 to fragment 2.
\nThe relationship is not, however, straightforward. When Eusebius catalogued Philo\u2019s works in his Ecclesiastical History, he did not mention Hypothetica, but included a one-volume work entitled Concerning the Jews (Hist. eccl. 2.18.6). This title is a common heading for works that deal with the Jewish people and was probably given by someone other than the author. While it is possible that Concerning the Jews refers to Hypothetica, the fact that it is listed among the single-scroll works of Philo while the Preparation for the Gospel suggests that Hypothetica had several scrolls makes the identification problematic.<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
This is not the only difficulty with the work. The effort to provide rational options for explaining the Exodus, Moses\u2019s leadership in the wilderness, and the settlement in the land is unusual in ancient Jewish literature. It is so unusual among the writings of Philo that a number of modern scholars have questioned whether Eusebius was correct when he attributed the fragments to Philo. The editors of the major critical edition of the Greek texts of Philo omitted the work, although they later included it in their minor edition of his works. Such skepticism does not account for the Philonic character of the treatments of the Sabbath and Essenes and fails to understand the unique setting of the work.
\nThe title Hypothetica does not help clarify the setting at first glance. It has been understood as \u201cSuppositions,\u201d based on the hypothetical approach of the opening of fragment 1; \u201cCounsels\u201d or \u201cAdmonitions,\u201d based on the use of hypoth\u0113k\u0113 elsewhere in Philo; \u201cImputations,\u201d in the sense of imputing false opinions about Jews; or as \u201cHypothetical Propositions,\u201d based on the use of the term in Stoic logic. While we cannot be certain, the last possibility helps to provide a reasonable explanation for the setting of the work.
\nThe Jewish community of Alexandria was large. It may have constituted nearly a third of the total population of the second largest city in the Roman Empire (ca. 400,000 to 600,000). Tensions between the Jewish community and the Greek citizens of the city as well as the native Egyptians were palpable. When Agrippa I visited Alexandria on his way to claim the kingdom that the emperor Gaius (Caligula) gave him, a group of Alexandrians mocked him. In an effort to win the support of local political forces, the Roman governor, Flaccus, stood by and allowed a pogrom to develop. Flaccus had, however, misread the political landscape. He was summoned to Rome\u2014accused in part by none other than Isodorus and Lampo, the same political leaders who had pledged their support if he would ignore the pogrom\u2014and exiled. The new prefect, C. Vitrasius Pollio, moved the issue from the streets into the courtroom. Two embassies set out for Rome: an Alexandrian delegation headed by Isodorus and Apion and a Jewish delegation headed by Philo. After two hearings, it was apparent that the emperor favored the Alexandrians.
\nFollowing the assassination of Gaius on 24 January 41 CE, hostilities broke out again. Claudius quickly suppressed them, heard both delegations, and issued a decree that attempted to reestablish the policies of Julius Caesar and Augustus (Ant. 19.279). However, neither group of antagonists was ready to give up: both the Alexandrians and Jews sent second delegations (CPJ 153, 87\u201392). Claudius settled the matter with a famous letter that gave the Jewish community in Alexandria the right to practice their ancestral religion but closed the door for them to have Alexandrian citizenship (CPJ 153).
\nIt is likely that Philo wrote Hypothetica in preparation for his role in the embassy. One of his opponents was Chaeremon, an Egyptian priest who embraced Stoic thought. Philo\u2019s use of Stoic logic in offering options to explain Moses\u2019s leadership and the settlement in the land (see the comment on the basis of a certain line of reasoning about them in 8.6.5) probably reflects his effort to defuse the criticisms of Chaeremon or other opponents. His defense of the law, the Sabbath, and the seventh year was similarly intended to deflect criticisms and to demonstrate the superiority of the Jewish way of life. The Essenes represented a paradigm of Jewish virtue and were presented to show that Jews had their \u201cathletes of virtue\u201d just as other peoples did. Hypothetica is thus an important example of Jewish apologetic literature.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
Although the scope of the text is restricted to two fragments, they are important for a number of reasons. Philo\u2019s use of Stoic logic in the opening section dealing with historical issues is striking. He said that he was not going to deal with these issues \u201con the basis of history\u201d but \u201con the basis of a certain line of reasoning\u201d (Hypoth. 8.6.5). Philo is not offering alternative historical reconstructions as much as he is attempting to present the logical options for explaining what took place. His beginning point is not the biblical text, but the version of his opponents that he wants to discredit. His explanations are an attempt to put Jewish accusers on the horns of a dilemma: they could accept one or another explanation, but whichever they selected rebounded to the favor of the Jewish people. It is an interesting example of how a devout Jew could play with the text in an effort to defend his people.
\nThe epitome of the law occurs in five sections, each marked off by an editorial refrain that refers to \u201cother laws.\u201d The fivefold structure reflects the practice of imitating the structure of the Torah found in a number of other texts: the book of Psalms, the five megillot, 1 Enoch, the five discourses in Matthew, and Pirke Avot. While the structure could have been imposed by Eusebius, the clear use of five refrains probably reflects the structure of the original text. The fascinating aspect of this fivefold summary is that Philo intermingled Hellenistic ethical aphorisms with biblical laws (e.g., see the third group of laws in 8.7.6\u20138a). The combination of Jewish laws and Hellenistic aphorisms moves the Mosaic Law code into the larger world of ethics.
\nThe contents of the epitome are similar to the summaries in Pseudo-Phocylides and Josephus\u2019s Against Apion (2.145\u2013219, esp. 190\u2013219). The summary of the law in Hypothetica has 21 laws in common with the summary in Josephus and 15 in common with the summary in Pseudo-Phocylides. The three have 12 laws in common or approximately one-third of the total number of laws in Hypothetica. The most striking feature of the similarities is that two of the three authors often cluster the same laws together. There are nine such clusters, dealing with sexual offenses, violations of others, a household code, mistreatment of others, care for others, burial customs, human reproduction, economic honesty, and the treatment of animals. While there have been different explanations for the relationships among these treatments, it is likely that they drew from a common tradition, perhaps from common thematic treatments in Jewish ethical instruction. It is likely that collections of related laws became the basis for ethical instruction.
\nThe fivefold summary of the law based on traditional ethical instruction in synagogues rather than directly on the biblical text was intended to answer the charge that the Jews were isolated misanthropes. Tacitus captured the view of many in a characteristically frank statement: \u201cthey [the Jews] consider everything profane that we hold sacred, and inversely, they permit what we consider defiled\u201d (Hist. 5.4.1). While Philo could criticize Greek laws and practices at times, he argued that the Jewish law code inculcated the noblest virtues in the Greco-Roman world.
\nThe treatment of the Essenes is similar but not identical to Philo\u2019s treatment of them in other treatises. It is an example of holding out a group of people as exemplars of the highest moral values. In this case, it may be that Philo saw the Essenes as \u201cathletes of virtue\u201d to counter Chaeremon\u2019s presentation of Egyptian priests in his work. His portrait is similar enough to some of the writings found in the caves in and around Qumran that one wonders if he is describing the community that lived on the northwest side of the Dead Sea. There are two issues here. First, should we connect the ruins and the caves with the scrolls, or are they separate? While the relationship has been debated, the proximity of the caves to the ruins, especially Cave 4, and the jars at both the ruins of Khirbet Qumran and the caves makes this connection probable. Second, are the covenanters at Qumran the Essenes of Philo, Josephus, and Pliny? The number of similarities between Philo\u2019s description and the statements in the scrolls argues for the identification (see comments on 8.11.1\u201317). While there are also differences and other hypotheses have been offered, the consensus is that the covenanters who lived at Qumran were Essenes.<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
The apologetic nature of this text as a response to criticisms from outsiders presumes that the reader has some knowledge of the criticisms. Philo mentions the criticisms explicitly in some sections (8.6.2; 8.7.14), while in others we must infer it. The most virulent criticisms against the Jews in the ancient period came from Egyptian authors. It is worth reading the fragments that we have of their writings to understand the rationale for the presentation. The most important authors who lived in Egypt include Manetho, Lysimachus, Apion, and Chaeremon. Apollonius Molon of Rhodes is also an important witness. A number of Roman authors commented disparagingly on the Jews, including Tacitus and Juvenal. The comments of all of these authors are conveniently collected in Menahem Stern\u2019s Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism (GLAJJ; see below). The other source is Josephus\u2019s masterful apology Against Apion. The value that the work offers is that it is complete. While Josephus had a slightly different agenda as a historian, he deals with the same issues as Philo did. The work can be read as an analogous writing.<\/p>\n
SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n
Barclay, John M. G. Against Apion, edited by Steve Mason. Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary 10. Leiden: Brill, 2006.
\nBerthelot, Katell. Philanthr\u00f4pia judaica: Le d\u00e9bat autour de la \u201cmisanthropie\u201d des lois juives dans l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9 (esp. 301\u201314). Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 76. Leiden: Brill, 2002.
\nCarras, George. \u201cDependence or Common Tradition in Philo Hypoth. VIII 6.10\u20137.20 and Josephus Contra Apionem 2.190\u2013219.\u201d The Studia Philonica Annual 5 (1993): 24\u201347.
\nMendels, Doron. \u201cHellenistic Utopias and the Essenes.\u201d Harvard Theological Review 72 (1979): 207\u201322.
\nRunia, David T., and Sterling, Gregory E., ed. \u201cSpecial Section: The Hypoth.\u201d SPhA 22 (2010): 139\u2013207. Articles by Gregory E. Sterling, \u201cIntroduction,\u201d 139\u201342; Dulcinea Bosenberg, \u201cPhilo\u2019s Description of Jewish Sabbath Practice,\u201d 143\u201363; Horacio Vela, \u201cPhilo and the Logic of History,\u201d 165\u201382; and Michael Cover, \u201cReconceptualizing Conquest: Colonial Narratives and Philo\u2019s Roman Accuser in the Hypoth.,\u201d 183\u2013207.
\nSterling, Gregory E. \u201cPhilo and the Logic of Apologetics: An Analysis of the Hypoth.\u201d In Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 29, edited by David J. Lull, 412\u201330. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201c \u2018Athletes of Virtue\u2019: An Analysis of the Summaries in Acts (2:41\u201347; 4:32\u201335; 5:12\u201316).\u201d Journal of Biblical Literature 113, no. 4 (1994): 679\u201396.
\n\u2014\u2014\u2014. \u201cUniversalizing the Particular: Natural Law in Second Temple Jewish Ethics.\u201d The Studia Philonica Annual 15 (2003): 64\u201380.
\nStern, Menahem. Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism. 3 vols. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1974\u20131984.
\nTaylor, Joan E. Jewish Women Philosophers of First-Century Alexandria: Philo\u2019s \u2018Therapeutae\u2019 Reconsidered (esp. 21\u201373, 105\u201325, 154\u201370). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.<\/p>\n
TRANSLATION<\/p>\n
Fragment 1: 8.6.1\u20138.7.20<\/p>\n
EPISODE ONE: THE MIGRATION<\/p>\n
8.6.1Their ancient ancestor was from Chaldea, while the people emigrated from Egypt after they had migrated (there) from Syria in the distant past. (The reasons for their emigration were as follows.) They swelled with unspeakable numbers for which the land was insufficient. In addition, they had been brought up with an impetuosity for great things while God simultaneously disclosed an exodus to them through signs and dreams. No less important was the fact that they fell into a divinely inspired desire for their ancestral and original country (from which, in fact, their ancestor had come into Egypt\u2014whether the notion was from God or some forethought of his own) to prosper to an unparalleled degree. From that time to the present their nation has existed, had an unbroken presence, and to a significant degree excelled in population.<\/p>\n
EPISODE TWO: THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE<\/p>\n
8.6.2A man led them in their exodus and journey who\u2014if you prefer\u2014did not differ from most people in any remarkable way; so some have even railed at him as a trickster and rogue with words. Yet what admirable trickery and craftiness by which he not only preserved the entire people without water, in famine conditions, in ignorance of the roads, and in lack of everything\u2014as if they were in complete prosperity and assistance from the surrounding peoples\u2014but also kept them free from internal dissensions and completely obedient to himself. 3These conditions were not for a brief period of time, not even for the length of time that it is reasonable for a household to remain of one mind in complete prosperity. Neither thirst, famine, the wasting away of their bodies, fear of the future, ignorance of what would happen excited the deceived and wandering vagabonds against that trickster. 4What do you make of this? Should we say that he had such a degree of skill, resourcefulness with words, or brilliance that he gained control over so many and such various types of impossibilities that were leading all to destruction? For either the natures of those people under him were not unlearned and irascible but obedient and careful of the future, or they were especially bad but God tamed their irascibility and it was as if he took charge of the present and future. Whichever of these two you think is correct, it appears to support his praise, honor, and zeal for them all.<\/p>\n
EPISODE THREE: THE SETTLEMENT<\/p>\n
8.6.5This is the account of the exodus. But when they entered this land, how they were established and possessed the land is indicated in their sacred records. I do not think that I should run through the probable events so much on the basis of history as on the basis of a certain line of reasoning about them. 6For which (of these alternatives) do you prefer? Were they still proceeding with a large number in respect to bodies (and) although they had been thoroughly beaten up, nonetheless they were strong and with weapons in hand took the country by force, conquering the combined forces of the Syrians and Phoenicians who fought in their land? Or should we suppose that they were adverse to war, cowardly, very few in number, and without the armaments for war, but won respect among these and received the land from those who were willing (to give it to them) and immediately and without prolonged delay both built the temple and established what was necessary for their religion and sacred rites. 7For these things make it clear\u2014so it seems\u2014that even their enemies acknowledged them to be especially loved by God. For they were enemies by necessity of those whose land they had suddenly entered to seize for themselves. 8Therefore, since they had won respect and honor among these, how could it not be evident that they excelled others in good fortune? What characteristics shall we mention in the second or third place in addition to these? Should it be their loyalty to law and their obedience or their holiness, righteousness, and piety? But as for that man who once gave them their laws, they admired him so exceedingly that whatever he approved, they did as well. 9Whether then he reasoned these things out or declared them while listening to a daimon, they attributed it all to God and although a great many years have passed (I do not know the exact number, but more than two thousand) they have not altered even one word written by him. They would sooner endure the experience of death ten thousand times than be persuaded by anything contrary to his laws and customs.<\/p>\n
FIRST GROUP OF LAWS: CAPITAL CRIMES<\/p>\n
8.7.1Is there anything like these or anything similar to these among the former; anything that seems to be mild and soft; anything that includes argumentation in trials, pleas, delays, assessments, and excuses? None. Everything is clear and straightforward. If you commit pederasty, if you commit adultery, if you violate a youth (even a girl, do not mention a boy), similarly if you prostitute yourself, if you permit or consider or plan something shameful for your age, the penalty is death. 2If you abuse the person of a slave, if you abuse the person of a free individual, if you confine him with bonds, if you lead him away and sell him, if you steal something ordinary, if you steal something sacred, if you commit an act of impiety not only through an action but even through a casual word against God himself\u2014it is not right even to say this (may God be gracious to us for the very thought of such) but against your own father, mother, or benefactor, the penalty is similarly death. This death is not common or ordinary; rather the one who has merely spoken must be stoned since he has committed an impiety no less (than a person who has acted impiously).<\/p>\n
SECOND GROUP OF LAWS: HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT<\/p>\n
8.7.3Again there are other laws such as these. Wives should serve their husbands, not as a result of abuse but with a view to voluntary obedience in all things. Parents should rule their children for their well-being and care. Each individual should have control over their own possessions unless he has invoked the name of God over them or given them to God. Even if it turns out that he has only promised them with a statement, it is not lawful for him to touch or handle them, but he must immediately exclude himself from all of them. 4He should not carry off things that belong to the gods nor rob the things that others have dedicated, not even his own, as I said, since if some word of dedication happens to slip, even if he is unaware of it, once he has said it, he is deprived of all. If he regrets or amends what he has said, his life should be taken. 5The same is true with regard to other persons over whom he has authority. If a man promises that his wife\u2019s support is sacred, he must withhold her support. If a father (makes this promise) for a son, if a ruler (makes this promise) for a subject, the same principle applies. The most complete and best release of dedicated items is when a priest rejects them; he has been given the authority by God to receive them (or to reject them). Next to this is the release by those who are in higher positions of authority and can declare that God is gracious with respect to holy things so that it is not necessary to receive the dedication.<\/p>\n
THIRD GROUP OF LAWS: THE HUMANITY OF JEWISH CUSTOMS AND LAWS<\/p>\n
8.7.6There are many other laws in addition to these which either rest on unwritten customs and practices or are in the laws themselves. What someone hates to experience, he should not do. What he has not deposited, he should not take\u2014whether from a garden, a wine vat, or a threshing floor. He should take absolutely nothing great or small from a pile of things. He should not refuse someone in need of fire. He should not close off streams of water. Rather in a pure spirit he should offer up to God food for the poor and lame who ask for it. 7He should not prevent a corpse from a burial, but cast as much earth over them as is proper. He should not in any way move the coffins and monuments of those who have departed. He should add neither bonds nor another evil, not even one, to someone in a difficult situation. People must not cut off the reproductive power of males nor cause women to miscarry by drugs that induce sterility or by other means. He must not treat animals in a way that is contrary to what either God or a legislator has established: he should not do away with their seed or enslave their offspring. 8.7.8aHe must not substitute fraudulent scales, nor an improper dry measure, nor counterfeit coinage. He must not reveal the secrets of friends in hostility. Where in the name of God are those rules of your Buzyges?<\/p>\n
FOURTH GROUP OF LAWS: FAMILY RELATIONS<\/p>\n
8.7.8bConsider other laws in addition to these. Parents should not live apart from children, not even if you hold them as captives. A wife should not live apart from her husband, even if you have legally purchased her and are her master.<\/p>\n
FIFTH GROUP OF LAWS: FROM ANIMALS TO HUMANS<\/p>\n
8.7.9These undoubtedly are serious and important matters, but there are other lesser and ordinary matters. He says that a person should not empty a nest that is under the roof of their house. He should not reject the petition of animals that, as it sometimes seems, flee to you. Do not (do something wrong) even it is less significant than these things. Perhaps you would say that these matters are inconsequential; however, the law that governs them is great and demands complete attention. The proclamations and the curses that threaten annihilation are great. God is himself the guardian of such matters and the omnipresent avenger.<\/p>\n
THE SABBATH<\/p>\n
8.7.10Do you not find it amazing if it turns out that for an entire day\u2014rather not one day but many days and these not in immediate sequence but at intervals that consist of seven days and while the habit that belongs to the secular days is always in force, as is to be expected\u2014not one of the things commanded is transgressed? 11Is this then only a matter of training for self-control so that they may equally accomplish something when they work and have the capacity to refrain from work when necessary? This is not the case; rather, it was in view of a great achievement and something amazing that the lawgiver thought it necessary that in respect of some things they should not only be competent to accomplish them and similarly not to accomplish them, but they should also know their ancestral laws and customs thoroughly. 12What then did he do on these seventh days? He required them to assemble together and to sit with one another in reverence and order to hear the laws so that no one would be ignorant (of them). 13And so they always come together and sit with one another. The majority sit in silence except to keep the practice of signifying agreement to what is being read. One of the priests who is present or one of the elders reads the sacred laws to them and explains them in detail until late afternoon. As a result they leave with a more thorough knowledge of the sacred laws and have made a significant advance toward piety. 14Do you think that these things belong to the idle and are not worth every effort as essentials to them? For this reason they do not go to interpreters of the law about what they should do. Nor do they behave improperly as a result of ignorance of the laws if they do not continually question one another. Rather, press anyone of them and ask him about his ancestral laws; he is prepared and can easily speak: a husband seems to be capable of handing on the laws to his wife, a father to his children, and a master to his slaves.<\/p>\n
THE SABBATH YEAR<\/p>\n
8.7.15In addition, it is easy to speak of the seventh year in a similar way, although not in the identical way. For they do not withdraw from work as they do on the seventh days, but let the earth lie fallow with a view to the future for the sake of prosperity. For it is much better after it has had a respite and then is cultivated in the next year and is not reduced to a worthless condition through continual working. 16You can see the same principle results in strength for our bodies. For it is not for (the restoration of) good health alone that physicians order intervals and certain periods of respite from work, since what is continual and singular, especially in respect of work, seems injurious. 17Here is an indication. If someone announced to them that if this same land were worked much more (extensively) than in the period prior to the seventh year, it would yield all products whole, they would not in any way accept (the products). For they do not think that they alone should abstain from labors (and in fact if they did this, it would be nothing amazing), but that their land should have a certain period of rest and ease for another beginning of renewed attention and cultivation. 18Since what, by God, would prevent leasing it during the pass year and collecting the payment for that year from the crops? As I said, they do not in any way receive anything of the sort\u2014out of forethought for the land I think. 19This is a truly great indication of their humanity. Since they refrain from work in that year, they do not think that they should gather or store the fruits that form but do not come to them from their own labors. Rather, seeing that God has supplied (these fruits to) them through the earth sending them up spontaneously, they think it right that travelers or others who want or need (them) should enjoy them in abundance. 20This is sufficient for you about these things. For the fact that the law has established these things for them about the seventh days, you would not need to ask, since you have probably previously heard many physicians, philosophers, and scientists about this, i.e., what power it has for the nature of everything and especially for human nature. This is the account of the seventh day.<\/p>\n
Fragment 2: 8.11.1\u201317, the Essenes<\/p>\n
8.11.1Our legislator prepared countless pupils for a common life. They are called Essenes\u2014appropriately named, in my judgment\u2014on account of their holiness. They inhabit many cities of Judaea as well as villages in large and populous groups. 2Their course of life is not due to ethnic identity (since ethnicity is not attributable to volunteers), but to zeal for virtue and a longing for humanity. 3Therefore no Essene is merely a child nor someone at the age of puberty or a youth since the unstable habits of these join in a rebellion associated with the immaturity of their age. Rather they are mature men even verging on old age no longer overwhelmed by the torrent of the body nor led by the passions, but enjoy the true and only real freedom. 4Their lifestyle is a witness to their freedom. No one dares to acquire any personal property at all: no house, no servant, no field, no cattle, none of the other things that are the provisions and excesses of wealth. Instead they deposit everything in a public holding and enjoy the benefit of everything in common. 5They live together in guilds (or) associations; they make their meals common and continually occupy themselves with everything that works for the common good. 6There are different occupations for different members at which they set to work and devote themselves untiringly, not offering cold, heat, or any abrupt changes in the weather as excuses. Before the sun rises they turn to their customary tasks and when it sets, they reluctantly return rejoicing no less than those who are enrolled in gymnastic contests. 7For they assume that whatever exercises they practice, they are more profitable for life, sweeter for soul and body, and longer lasting than those in athletic contests since they do not decrease in vigor when the prime of the body is passed. 8For some of them are farmers, skilled in planting and the care of plants; some are herdsmen, commanders of all sorts of animals; some are in charge of bee-hives. 9Others are craftsmen in the trades so that they do not suffer any of the things that the essential needs force on us and do not avoid any of the possibilities for blameless profit. 10When each has received his wage from the various occupations, he gives it to an appointed treasurer. When he has received (the funds) he immediately purchases the essential supplies and provides abundant stores of food and the other things that human life needs. 11Those who share common meals and common tables on a daily basis are satisfied with the same things; they are lovers of contentment with little, rejecting extravagance as a disease of the soul and body. 12Not only is their table common, but their clothing is as well. For heavy coats are set out in winter and inexpensive single-shoulder tunics in summer so that one wanting to go out conveniently takes whatever he wants since what belongs to one is left for all and conversely what belongs to all is left for one. 13In addition, if one of them becomes ill, he is cared for from the common fund and is healed by the attentions and thoughtfulness of all. The elderly, even if they are childless, are accustomed to spend the end of their life in the most fortunate and comfortable old age, as if they had not only large families but very closely knit families, since they are judged worthy of forethought and honor by those who judge it worthy to serve them by a voluntary inclination rather than the compulsion of nature. 14Still further they have rejected marriage since with unusual percipience they have seen what is the sole or most probable basis for dissolving the common life and they want to make a special effort to practice self-control. For none of the Essenes takes a wife, because a wife is a lover of herself, immoderately jealous, and clever at waylaying the morals of her husband and reducing him through continuous charms. 15Practiced in fawning speeches and the rest of acting, as if she were on stage, she entices his seeing and hearing and after these have been thoroughly deceived as if they were servants she tricks the leader, the mind. 16If there are children, she is full of arrogance and bold speech: whatever she previously intimated surreptitiously by dissimulation she speaks openly from audacious insolence and dropping all shame compels (him) to do things, each of which is an enemy of the common life. 17For he, either bound by the love charms of his wife or compelled by nature to take thought for his children is no longer the same to others, but without knowing it has become a different person, a slave instead of a free person. 18This is then their life, so highly prized that not only private persons but even great kings admiring the men are amazed and make their worthiness of respect even more respectable through favors and honors.<\/p>\n
Stories Set in Biblical and Early Post-Biblical Times<\/p>\n
These stories were originally composed in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, and, with the exception of the book of Judith, outside the Land of Israel. Several have come down to us as part of the Christian canon of Greek Jewish Scripture. As fictitious narratives that retell aspects of biblical or historical events, they offer perspectives on the ways that Jews in the Second Temple period, in a variety of locations, coped with the political upheavals and social realities of their times, filtered through lenses on the past.<\/p>\n
Joseph and Aseneth<\/p>\n
Patricia Ahearne-Kroll<\/p>\n
Joseph and Aseneth (hereafter Aseneth) is an ancient Greek novel that reworks the story of Joseph in Gen. 37\u201350. The narrative begins within the timeframe of Gen. 41, when Pharaoh appoints Joseph as second-in-command and marries him to Aseneth, the daughter of a Heliopolitan priest (41:45). Aseneth, however, rearranges the sequence of events in Gen. 41 (i.e., Joseph marries Aseneth after he began gathering grain and not before) and adds more scenes to the Genesis story. Aseneth 1\u201317 presents Aseneth\u2019s initial encounter with Joseph, his rejection of her because of her polytheistic religious practices, and her subsequent conversion to Judaism. She discards everything remotely related to her polytheistic devotion, fasts and sits in sackcloth, and repents before God. After one week, an angel visits her and promises that (1) her name will be inscribed in the book of life, (2) she will partake in the life-giving ways of following God, (3) she will become a city of refuge for all those devoted to God, and (4) she will marry Joseph. The angel also feeds her from an extraordinary honeycomb that delivers knowledge of the mysteries of God. Immediately after the angel\u2019s visit, Aseneth clothes herself in regal attire and meets Joseph again; the two are married soon after, and before long, Aseneth conceives and bears Manasseh and Ephraim (Aseneth 18\u201321).
\nThe second stage of the novel takes place after Jacob and his sons move to Egypt (cf. Gen. 46\u201347), and these chapters spin an engaging tale of intrigue (Aseneth 22\u201329). Pharaoh\u2019s son had wanted Aseneth to be his wife, and in a zealous rage, he successfully recruits the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah to help him kill both his father and Joseph and also kidnap Aseneth. The covert operation fails on several counts, most notably because Benjamin and Leah\u2019s sons commit amazing acts of heroics, but the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah find shelter under Aseneth\u2019s care, and she convinces Leah\u2019s sons to desist from any more retaliatory violence. Aseneth\u2019s rationale changes Levi\u2019s mind, and he protects and tries to heal Pharaoh\u2019s son from his injuries. Levi\u2019s attempt fails, however, and Pharaoh\u2019s son and, soon after, Pharaoh himself die. The novel concludes with Joseph inheriting the crown from Pharaoh; he rules 48 years in Egypt and then bequeaths the crown to Pharaoh\u2019s younger son, who was not of age to rule when Pharaoh had died.
\nAseneth is written in the genre of the ancient Greek novel, which consists of a particular plotline and certain literary conventions. In these narratives, a female and a male fall in love, marry, and spend the rest of their lives in happiness after encountering a series of obstacles. The protagonists are always from nobility and are portrayed as a perfect match, but they often respond emotionally to their trials as they face the fate that the divine realm creates for them. The unfolding of the plot is also driven by a dialogic tension between the audience\u2019s expectation that the protagonists unite and the narrative\u2019s repeated suspension or seeming termination of that union.
\nNot all these novels are the same, however, and Aseneth presents several distinct features. Most obvious are (1) Aseneth\u2019s encounter with the angel and her conversion to Judaism; and (2) the narrative\u2019s prescriptions for those who worship God (regarding conversion before marriage and not \u201crepaying evil for evil\u201d). Other ancient Greek novels reflect a polytheistic worldview, and their storylines do not defend affiliation to a particular cult, but Aseneth promotes a monotheistic worldview that requires a different sequence of events. Both protagonists must endorse this worldview, so Aseneth converts. Joseph\u2019s allegiance to God is well documented in Gen. 37\u201350, so Aseneth spends more time developing the portrayal of Aseneth and less time on the male protagonist than what other Greek novels provide.
\nWithin the genre construction of an ancient Greek novel, Aseneth also fully imitates the language and style of the (LXX). The plot is rooted in the Genesis story about Joseph, and at several points in the narrative, Aseneth repeats particular phrases from Genesis to more securely embed it in the Joseph tradition. Other biblical scenes and paradigms are utilized in the portrayal of Aseneth, her encounter with the angel, and the presentation of events in the latter half of the story (e.g., from Daniel, Judges, Psalms, and 2 Samuel); and particular literary conventions of LXX Greek (e.g., kai egeneto and idou) are scattered throughout the narrative. Aseneth also shares similarities of interest with other Second Temple literature. Aseneth\u2019s prayers and rise to greatness are replete with wisdom imagery (cf. Wisdom of Solomon), and Aseneth\u2019s embellishment of Joseph\u2019s reign is shared by other Jewish texts from Egypt (e.g., Artapanus and Philo\u2019s Joseph).<\/p>\n
Authorship and History<\/p>\n
Aseneth most likely was composed in Greek, but the evidence for this narrative exists in several languages. Ninety-one manuscripts are known to preserve all or a portion of Aseneth (see \u201cGuide to Reading,\u201d below), and scholars continue to debate which manuscripts best reflect the initial composition. The majority of scholars depend upon the reconstruction by Christoph Burchard, but some argue that Marc Philonenko\u2019s reconstruction may better represent the initial text. Although the transmission history of this narrative is much more complex than what the two reconstructions imply, the manuscripts display both a uniform quality (i.e., they share in common the basic storyline and much of the same imagery and phraseology) and a fluid quality in each individual telling of the narrative (e.g., some manuscripts omit scenes and others embellish them).
\nThe manuscripts are dated from the 6th to 17th centuries CE, but scholars agree that the narrative was produced prior to the 6th century CE. The majority opinion assigns its composition to between 100 BCE and 115 CE in Egypt. During this period, Jewish communities thrived in Alexandria and towns along the Nile, and they produced several Jewish literary texts in Greek (notably the LXX, but also other writings, such as the works of Philo, Wisdom of Solomon, and Letter of Aristeas). Aseneth\u2019s close attention to the content and literary style of the LXX and its concern for maintaining Jewish identity in a polytheistic environment correspond well to what is known about the life and literature of Jews in Egypt at this time.<\/p>\n
Significance<\/p>\n
The seeming royal appearance of Joseph (Aseneth 5, 25) and Aseneth (Aseneth 3, 18, 28) not only foretells what they become at the end of the narrative but is also reminiscent of depictions of royalty in Greco-Roman Egypt. Within the concrete experience of life in Egypt, Aseneth reconstructs the past by applying imagery and concepts that had significant clout with the dominant group of this setting (i.e., Ptolemaic and Roman rule), but it does not forsake the delineation of Jewish identity. As a pharaonic couple, Aseneth and Joseph condemn idolatry and solely worship the God Most High; Joseph becomes a king, but he is not deified. Although Aseneth\u2019s lifestyle before her conversion is comparable to that of a goddess (e.g., her room is a shrine and chaste women perpetually serve her), the narrative predominantly characterizes her devotion to her gods as excessive. Held in tandem, both impressions bolster the narrative\u2019s critique of polytheistic practices, which Aseneth ultimately rejects.
\nAseneth also directly addresses the challenges of delineating Jewish identity in a polytheistic society, and it promotes positive engagement in this setting while maintaining definite distinctions of Jewishness. Aseneth concentrates on the ambiguity of life within such a diverse environment: friendly relations are forged between Hebrews and Egyptians (e.g., Joseph and Pentephres), enmity is fueled from within Jacob\u2019s household (the sons of Leah versus those of Bilhah and Zilpah), and responses to violent acts against Joseph and Aseneth shift on account of the involvement of an initial outsider (Aseneth, the converted Egyptian) and result in the building of closer relations between the households of Jacob and Pharaoh. Aseneth defines legitimate marriage only in terms of religious affiliation and practice, and this ruling stands in contrast to other Jewish opinions that defined endogamy to include individuals\u2019 ancestral background (e.g., Jub. 30).<\/p>\n
GUIDE TO READING<\/p>\n
Burchard\u2019s reconstructed text includes notes that frequently provide information about manuscript variations, to make transparent the difficulties in ascertaining the original composition of Aseneth and the flexibility that scribes exercised in transmitting this story. Burchard classifies the textual evidence as follows:<\/p>\n
Syr Two Syriac manuscripts
\nArm Fifty Armenian manuscripts
\nL2 Two subsets: (1) one manuscript (436) and (2) a group of five manuscripts (435&)
\nFamily f Three subsets: (1) two Greek (FW) and four Romanian (Rum) manuscripts, (2) an illuminated Greek (G) and two new Greek (Ngr) manuscripts, and (3) nine Latin manuscripts (L1)
\nE One Greek manuscript
\nfamily Mc Four Greek manuscripts (M, HJK)
\nFamily a Six Greek manuscripts (A, CR, O, PQ)
\nfamily d Two Greek (BD) and two Slavonic (Slaw) manuscripts<\/p>\n
Note: Philonenko\u2019s reconstruction primarily is based on family d, and Burchard\u2019s on family f, Syr, Arm, L2, and partly family a. SUGGESTED READING<\/p>\n Ahearne-Kroll, Patricia. \u201cJoseph and Aseneth and Jewish Identity in Greco-Roman Egypt.\u201d PhD diss., University of Chicago Divinity School, 2005. TRANSLATION<\/p>\n 1:1In the first year of the seven years of abundance, in the second month, on the fifth day of the month, Pharaoh sent Joseph out to go around all the land of Egypt. 2So, in the fourth month of the first year, on the 18th day of the month, Joseph came to the district of Heliopolis, and he was gathering the grain of that region (which was) like the sand of the sea. 3There was a man in that city, a satrap of Pharaoh; he was (the) chief official of all the satraps and notable men of Pharaoh. This man was very wealthy, (he was) prudent and kind, and he was Pharaoh\u2019s adviser because he was more intelligent than all Pharaoh\u2019s notable men. The name of that man was Pentephres, priest of Heliopolis. 4He had a daughter, a parthenos (who was) 18 years old, and she was much taller, more attractive and beautiful in appearance than all the parthenoi in the land. 5She was in no way like the Egyptian parthenoi but was in every way like the daughters of the Hebrews; she was tall like Sara, attractive like Rebekka, and beautiful like Rachel. And the name of that parthenos was Aseneth. 6The report of her beauty spread throughout all that land and as far as the ends of the inhabited world, and all the sons of notable men, sons of satraps, sons of all the kings\u2014(all) young and powerful men\u2014were attempting to court her. There was much strife among them concerning Aseneth, and they would try to fight against each other on account of her.
\nIn the translation, words in brackets (e.g.,
\nBurchard, Christoph, assisted by Carsten Burfeind and Uta Barbara Fink. Joseph und Aseneth. Pseudepigrapha Veteris Testamenti Graece 5. Leiden: Brill, 2003.
\nChesnutt, Randall D. From Death to Life: Conversion in \u201cJoseph and Aseneth.\u201d Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement 16. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995.
\nFink, Uta Barbara. Joseph und Aseneth: Revision des griechischen Textes und Edition der zweiten lateinischen \u00dcbersetzung. Fontes et Subsidia ad Bibliam pertinentes 5. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008.
\nHezser, Catherine. \u201c \u2018Joseph and Aseneth\u2019 in the Context of Ancient Greek Novels.\u201d Frankfurter judaistische Beitr\u00e4ge 24 (1997): 1\u20134.
\nHumphrey, Edith M. Joseph and Aseneth. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.
\nKraemer, Ross Shepard. When Aseneth Met Joseph: A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
\nPhilonenko, Marc. Joseph et As\u00e9neth: Introduction, texte critique, traduction et notes. Studia post-biblica 13. Leiden: Brill, 1968.
\nStandhartinger, Angela. Das Frauenbild im Judentum der hellenistischen Zeit: Ein Beitrag anhand von \u201cJoseph und Aseneth.\u201d Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums 26. Leiden: Brill, 1995.<\/p>\n
\n7And the firstborn son of Pharaoh heard about her, and he repeatedly pleaded with his father to give her to him as a wife. His firstborn son said to Pharaoh, \u201cFather, give me Aseneth, the daughter of Pentephres, the priest of Heliopolis, as a wife.\u201d 8Pharaoh, his father, told him, \u201cWhy do you ask for a woman who is inferior to you and yet you are king of all the land of Egypt? 9Look, is not the daughter of Joachim, the king of Moab, betrothed to you? And she is a queen and very beautiful, is she not? Take this woman as a wife for yourself.\u201d
\n2:1And Aseneth used to disdain and despise every man, and she was boastful and arrogant before everyone. And yet no man had ever seen her because Pentephres\u2019s tower, (which was) very large and tall, lay beside his house, and on top of that tower, there was an upper story that had 10 rooms. 2The first room was large and attractive; (it was) covered with purple stones, its walls were faced with variegated and costly stones, and the ceiling of that room was gold. 3And gold and silver Egyptian gods, which were without number, were affixed to the walls within that room. Aseneth used to worship all those (gods), fear them, and perform sacrifices to them daily. 4The second room contained Aseneth\u2019s jewelry and chests, and in it (the room) there was much gold and silver, clothing interwoven with gold, select and precious stones, fine linen, and every adornment of her parthenia. 5The third room was Aseneth\u2019s storeroom, and all good things of the land were in it. 6Seven parthenoi had the remaining seven rooms, each one possessing a room, and these women continually served Aseneth. They were all the same age, since they were born with Aseneth in one night, and she loved them very much. They were extremely beautiful like the stars of the sky, and neither man nor male child conversed with them.
\n7In Aseneth\u2019s large room where her parthenia was nurtured, there were three windows. The first and most prominent window was very large, (and) it faced the courtyard to the east, the second (window) faced southward, and the third (window) faced northward (toward) the street where people pass by. 8A golden bed stood in the room facing eastward
\n10A large courtyard was adjacent to the house
\n3:1In the first year of the seven years of abundance, in the fourth month, on the 18th day of the month, Joseph came to the district of Heliopolis, and he was gathering the grain of abundance of that region. 2When he approached that city, Joseph sent 12 men ahead of him to Pentephres the priest, saying, \u201cLet me stay with you because it is noon, the time of the midday meal, and the burning heat of the sun is great, and so that I may be refreshed under the shade of your house.\u201d 3Pentephres heard these words, and he was extremely glad. And he said, \u201cBlessed is the LORD, the god of Joseph, because my lord, Joseph, regarded me worthy to come to us.\u201d 4Pentephres summoned his house steward and said to him, \u201cHurry and make my house ready, and prepare a great meal because Joseph the mighty one of God is coming to us today.\u201d
\n5And Aseneth heard that her father and mother had come from the field of their inheritance, and she rejoiced and said, \u201cI will go and see my father and my mother because they have come from the field of our inheritance.\u201d For it was the time of the harvest. 6And Aseneth hastened to her room where her robes were kept and she put on a fine linen robe of violet interwoven with gold, girded herself with a golden girdle, placed bracelets on her hands and feet, put on golden trousers around her feet, and placed around her neck highly priced jewelry and precious stones that
\n4:1And she hastened and descended the stairs from the upper room, and she came to her father and mother, and she greeted them and kissed them. And Pentephres and his wife were very glad with their daughter Aseneth because
\n9After Aseneth heard these words from her father, much red sweat poured over her upon her face, she became very angry, and she looked sidelong at her father with her eyes and said, \u201cWhy is my lord and my father speaking according to these words, to hand me over like a captive to a foreign man, a runaway, and one who was sold? 10Isn\u2019t this one the shepherd\u2019s son from Canaan, and wasn\u2019t he caught in the act of sleeping with his female master, and his male master threw him into the dark prison? And Pharaoh released him from prison because he interpreted his dream just as the elder Egyptian women also interpret (dreams)? 11No, but I shall be married to the firstborn son of the king because he is king of all the land of Egypt.\u201d 12When Pentephres heard these things, he was ashamed to speak any longer about Joseph to his daughter, Aseneth, because she responded to him boldly and with arrogance and anger.
\n5:1And a male servant from Pentephres\u2019s attendants rushed in, and said, \u201cLook, Joseph stands before the entrance of our courtyard!\u201d 2And Aseneth fled from before her father and mother when she heard them saying these things about Joseph, and she ascended to the upper story, entered her room, and stood by the large window facing eastward in order to see Joseph entering her father\u2019s house. 3And Pentephres and his wife and all of his kindred came out to meet Joseph. 4And the gates of the courtyard that faced eastward were opened, and Joseph entered, standing on the second chariot of Pharaoh. And four horses\u2014white as snow with gold-studded bridles\u2014were harnessed (to the chariot), and the chariot was built entirely out of pure gold. 5And Joseph was clothed in a white and distinguished tunic, his external robe was purple, fine linen interwoven with gold, and a gold crown was upon his head. Twelve choice stones were all around the crown, and 12 golden rays were above the 12 stones. And a royal staff was
\n6:1Aseneth saw Joseph on the chariot, and she was deeply stricken and her soul was broken; her knees weakened, her whole body trembled, and she was very afraid. She groaned aloud and said in her heart: 2\u201cWhat will I do now, miserable as I am? Have I not spoken saying that Joseph, the shepherd\u2019s son from the land of Canaan is coming? And now look, the sun from heaven has come to us in his chariot, and he entered our house today and shines in it like light upon the earth. 3But I, foolish and insolent, scorned him, and I spoke slanderous words about him, and did not know that Joseph is a son of God. 4For who among men on earth will beget such beauty, and which woman\u2019s womb will bear such light? I am miserable and foolish because I have spoken slanderous words concerning him to my father. 5And now, where will I go and hide from his presence lest Joseph, the son of God, see me because I have spoken slanderous words concerning him? 6And where will I flee and hide, because he sees every hiding place and no secret has escaped his notice on account of the great light that is in him? 7Now, O LORD, the god of Joseph, be gracious to me because I, on my part, have spoken slanderous words against him in ignorance. 8And now, let my father give me to Joseph as a servant and slave, and I will serve him forever.\u201d
\n7:1And Joseph entered the house of Pentephres, and he sat on the chair. And they washed his feet and set a meal before him by himself because Joseph routinely did not eat with Egyptians, because this was an abomination to him. 2And when Joseph looked up with his eyes, he saw Aseneth who was leaning (out from her window). And Joseph spoke to Pentephres and all of his kindred, saying, \u201cWho is that woman standing in the upper storey by the window? Now let her leave this home!\u201d Because Joseph was afraid, saying, \u201cMay it not happen that this woman annoys me too!\u201d 3For all the wives and daughters of the notable men and satraps of all the land of Egypt used to annoy him (desiring) to sleep with him, and when all the wives and daughters of Egyptian men looked at Joseph, they used to suffer horribly because of his beauty. 4But Joseph repeatedly scorned them and the envoys whom the wives regularly sent to him with gold, silver, and costly gifts. Joseph consistently sent them away with threats and insults because Joseph repeatedly said, \u201cI will not sin before the LORD, the god of my father, Israel, nor before my father Jacob.\u201d 5And Joseph always had the face of his father, Jacob, before his eyes, and he kept in mind his father\u2019s commands. Because Jacob used to tell his son, Joseph, and all of his sons, \u201c
\n8:1And Aseneth\u2019s mother ascended to the upper story and brought her, and she had her stand before Joseph. And Pentephres said to his daughter, Aseneth, \u201cGreet your brother because he too is chaste like you today, and he hates every strange woman as you also (hate) every strange man.\u201d 2And Aseneth said to Joseph, \u201cMay you be glad, my lord, (you) who are blessed by God the Most High!\u201d 3And Joseph said to Aseneth, \u201cThe LORD, the God who gives life to all things, will bless you.\u201d 4Pentephres said to his daughter, Aseneth, \u201cCome forward and kiss your brother.\u201d 5And when Aseneth came forward to kiss Joseph, Joseph stretched out his right hand and placed it to her chest between her two breasts, and her breasts already were standing like ripe apples. And Joseph said, \u201cIt is not fitting for a god-fearing man who praises the living God with his mouth and eats blessed bread of life, drinks (a) blessed cup of immortality, and anoints himself with blessed oil of incorruption to kiss a strange woman who praises dead and dumb idols with her mouth and eats bread of strangulation from their table, drinks (a) cup of treachery from their drink offering, and anoints herself with oil of destruction. 6But a god-fearing man will kiss his mother and his sister\u2014(the daughter) of his mother\u2014the sister from his tribe and kindred, and the woman with whom he shares a bed, all those who praise the living God with their mouths. 7Likewise, it is not fitting for a god-fearing woman to kiss a strange man because this is an abomination before the LORD God.\u201d
\n8And when Aseneth heard these words of Joseph, she was deeply stricken and very distressed, and she groaned aloud, and she looked intently at Joseph with her eyes opened and her eyes were full of tears. And Joseph looked at her and he had great compassion for her, and he too was stricken because Joseph was gentle and merciful, and he feared God. 9And he raised his right hand and placed (it) over her head and said,<\/joseph><\/my><\/in><\/she><\/his><\/they><\/a><\/hung><\/from><\/toward><\/p>\n