1 The classes and headings of all the special laws, which are called "the ten commandments," have been discussed in detail in the previous treatise. We must now go on to consider the particular commands as we read them in the later passages of the holy scriptures, and we will begin with the one that people in general ridicule. 2 The ordinance of circumcision of the genitals is ridiculed, though it is widely practised among other nations too, and above all by the Egyptians, who seem to me the most populous of all nations, and the richest in every kind of wisdom. 3 So it would be most fitting for men to set aside childish ridicule and to investigate the real causes of the ordinance with more prudence and dignity, considering why the custom has prevailed, and not rushing to condemn the folly of mighty nations without examination, remembering that it is unlikely that so many myriads would be circumcised in every generation, mutilating their own bodies and those of their nearest relatives in a way that causes severe pain, without adequate cause; but that there are many reasons that might encourage men to persevere in and continue a custom introduced by previous generations, and that these reasons are of the greatest weight and importance. 4 First of all, it prevents a painful disease, an affliction that is hard to cure, which they call a carbuncle, because, I imagine, it burns when it becomes inflamed, and that is how it got its name. And this disease very readily develops among those who have not undergone the rite of circumcision. 5 Secondly, it secures the cleanliness of the whole body in a way suited to a people consecrated to God; with this aim the Egyptian priests, extravagant in their care, shave their whole bodies, for some of the harmful things that ought to be removed collect and lodge under the hair and the prepuce. 6 Thirdly, there is the resemblance of the circumcised part to the heart, for both are made for the sake of generation: the breath contained within the heart generates thoughts, and the generative organ itself produces living beings. So the men of old thought it right to make the evident and visible organ, by which the objects of the outward senses are generated, resemble the invisible and superior part by which ideas are formed. 7 The fourth, and most important, concerns the provision it makes for fertility; for it is said that the semen travels its path easily, neither being scattered at all nor flowing on its way into what may be called the bags of the prepuce. For this reason the nations that practise circumcision are the most prolific and the most populous. 8 We have heard these considerations, which were discussed long ago among men of divine spirit and wisdom who interpreted the writings of Moses in no superficial or careless way. But besides what has already been said, I also regard circumcision as a symbol of two utterly indispensable things. 9 First of all, it is a symbol of the excision of the pleasures which delude the mind; for since the union of man and woman is the most exquisite of all the delights pleasure can give, the lawgivers saw fit to mutilate the organ that serves such unions; by this rite they signified figuratively the excision of all superfluous and excessive pleasure, not of one pleasure only, though that one is the most imperious of all, but of every other as well. 10 The second is that it symbolizes a man's knowing himself and casting off that terrible disease, the conceit of the soul; for some men, like skilled sculptors, have boasted that they can make that most beautiful of creatures, man, and, puffed up with arrogance, have made gods of themselves, hiding from sight the true cause of the creation of all things, namely God, although they could have corrected that error by considering the people they live among; 11 for among them there are many childless men, and many barren women whose unions come to nothing, so that they grow old without children. So we must root out evil opinions from the mind, along with every other idea not devoted to God. That is enough to say on these subjects. 12 But we must now turn to the special and particular laws; and first of all to those concerning those by whom it is good to be governed: the laws enacted about Monarchy. 13 Some people have supposed that the sun, the moon and the other stars are independent gods, and have attributed to them the causes of all things that exist. But Moses knew well that the world was created and was like a very large city, with rulers and subjects in it, the rulers being all the bodies in heaven, such as the planets and fixed stars,⁠a 14 and the subjects all the natures beneath the moon, hovering in the air and close to the earth. He also knew that the rulers just mentioned are not independent and absolute, but are the viceroys of one supreme Being, the Father of all, in imitation of whom they administer the charge entrusted to them properly and successfully, just as he presides over all created things in strict accordance with justice and law. Others, by contrast, who have not discovered the supreme Governor who rules everything in this way, have attributed the causes of the various things in the world to the subordinate powers, as if those powers had brought them about by their own independent act. 15 But the most sacred lawgiver turns their ignorance into knowledge, speaking as follows: "You shall not, when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the host of heaven, be led astray and fall down and worship them." Here he has very aptly and properly called the acceptance of these bodies as gods an error; 16 for those who see that the different seasons of the year owe their existence to the advances and retreats of the sun, during which the generation of animals, plants and fruits is also completed at well-defined times, and who see also that the moon is the servant and successor of the sun, taking the same care and oversight of the world by night that the sun takes by day; and also that the other stars, in accordance with their sympathy with things on earth, labour continually and do ten thousand things that help preserve the existing order, have been led into an inextricable error, imagining that these bodies are the only gods. 17 But if they had taken the trouble to travel the straight and true road, they would soon have known that just as the outward sense is the subordinate minister of the mind, so all the objects of the outward senses are servants of what is perceptible only to the intellect, and are well content if they can reach second place in honour. 18 But it is altogether ridiculous to imagine that the mind, the smallest thing in us and in fact invisible, rules the organs of the external senses, while the greatest and most perfect ruler of the whole universe is not the King of kings, and that the being who sees does not rule those who do not see. 19 So we must regard all the bodies in heaven that the outward sense takes for gods not as independent rulers, since they are assigned the work of lieutenants, being by their very nature answerable to a higher power, though because of their virtue they are not actually called to give an account of their actions. 20 So let us rise by reason above all visible essence and press forward to honour the everlasting and invisible Being who can be comprehended and appreciated by the mind alone; who is not only the God of all gods, whether appreciable only by the intellect or visible to the outward senses, but is also the creator of them all. And if anyone abandons the service due to the everlasting and uncreated God and transfers it to any more recent, created being, let him be counted mad and open to the charge of the greatest impiety. 21 But some people have given gold and silver to sculptors and statue-makers, as people able to fashion gods for them. And these craftsmen, taking the lifeless materials and using a mortal model, have (a most extraordinary thing) made gods, at least in appearance, and people have built temples and erected altars and dedicated them to these gods, honouring them with excessive pains and diligence, with sacrifices and processions, and all kinds of other sacred ceremonies and purifications; while the priests and priestesses exert themselves to the utmost of their power to spread this kind of pride and vanity. 22 To them the Father of the universe speaks in this way: "You shall not make to yourselves gods of silver and gold;" all but telling them in so many words, "You shall not make to yourselves any gods whatever of this or of any other material, nor shall you worship anything made with hands," the two most excellent materials being named expressly in the prohibition; for silver and gold are esteemed the most honourable of all materials. 23 And besides this explicit prohibition, these words seem to me meant to convey another, figurative meaning, one with a very great influence on the formation of moral character, and one that strongly convicts those who covet money and seek to get silver and gold from every quarter, and, once they have acquired it, store it up in their inmost shrines as though it were some divine image, regarding it as the cause of all good things and of all happiness. 24 It also convicts all the poor men who are gripped by that terrible disease, the love of money, but who, having no riches of their own they think worth their attention, fix their admiration on the wealth of their neighbours, and, to adore it, come first thing in the morning to the houses of the wealthy as if to noble temples, there to offer prayers and to beg blessings from the owners as if from the gods. 25 And to these men, Moses says, in another passage, "You shall not follow images, and you shall not make to yourselves molten gods." He is teaching them, in figurative language, that it is not right to pay wealth the honours one would pay to the gods; for those celebrated materials of wealth, silver and gold, are made to be used, yet the multitude follows them, regarding them as the only causes of wealth, which is proverbially called blind, and the special sources of happiness. 26 These are what Moses calls idols: they resemble shadows and phantoms and have nothing strong, trustworthy or lasting about them; for they are tossed about like the unstable wind, and are subject to all kinds of variations and changes. And the greatest possible proof of this is that it has suddenly descended on people who did not expect it at all, and again has flown away when they thought they had taken firm hold of it. And even while it is present, images appear as in a mirror, deceiving the outward senses and setting traps for them, and seeming as if they would last a long time, when in reality they do not endure. 27 And why do I need to explain how unstable the wealth and pride of men are, which vain opinions decorate with showy colours? For some men before now have affirmed that all animals and plants, everything that is born and decays, are in one continual and incessant state of transition, and that the senses perceive this transition only somewhat dimly, because the swiftness of nature outstrips even the quickest and most precise glance of the eye. 28 But not only are wealth, glory and all other such things mere phantoms and insubstantial images; so too are all the other deceits that the inventors of fables have devised, puffed up by their own ingenuity, while they raise a fortification of false opinion against the truth, bringing in God as if by some theatrical machine, in order to prevent the everlasting and only truly existing God from being consigned to oblivion. These men have set their falsehood to melodies, rhythms and metres with an eye to persuasion, thinking that by these means they would easily beguile all who read their works. 29 Moreover, they have also enlisted the arts of sculpture and painting as partners in their system of deceit, so that, winning over the spectators with well-crafted appearances of colours, forms and distinctive qualities, and having captured with their allurements the principal outward senses of sight and hearing, the one by the exquisite beauty of lifeless forms, and the other by a poetical harmony of numbers--they may captivate the unstable soul, make it feeble and rob it of any settled foundation. 30 For this reason Moses, well aware that pride had by then risen to a very great height of power, that most of mankind guarded it well, and did so not under compulsion but of their own accord, and fearing that those who admire uncorrupted and genuine piety might be swept away as if by a torrent, stamped a deep impression on the minds of men, engraving piety on them, so that the impression he made would not become blurred or weakened and at last be wholly erased by time. And he is constantly prophesying and telling his people that there is one God, the creator and maker of the universe; and at other times he teaches them that he is the Lord of all created things, since everything that is firm, solid, truly stable and sure is by nature made to be bound to him alone. 31 And it is said in the scriptures that, "Those that are attached to the living God do all live." Is it not, then, a most happy life, a most blessed existence, to be content with giving due service to the most venerable Cause of all things, and not to choose to serve his subordinate ministers and door-keepers in preference to the King himself? And this life is immortal, and is recorded on the pillars of nature as long-lasting. And these writings must inevitably last for all eternity, together with the world itself. 32 But the Father and Ruler of the universe is a being whose character is difficult to arrive at by conjecture and hard to comprehend; even so, we must not shrink from investigating it on that account. In investigating the nature of God, there are two questions of the greatest importance that perplex the intellect of anyone who devotes himself to philosophy in a genuine spirit. One is whether there is any Deity at all. This question arises from the atheism (which is the greatest of all vices) of those men who study philosophy. The other question is, supposing there is a God, what he is in his essence. The first question is not very difficult to settle, but the second is not only difficult but perhaps impossible. We must, however, consider both these matters. 33 Works have invariably served, to some degree, as proofs of the character of the workmen who made them; for who, looking at statues or pictures, does not at once form an idea of the sculptor or painter himself? And who, seeing a garment, a ship or a house, does not instantly form a notion of the weaver, shipbuilder or architect who made it? And if anyone comes into a well-ordered city, in which all parts of the constitution are exceedingly well arranged and regulated, what will he conclude except that this city is governed by wise and virtuous rulers? 34 So anyone who comes into what is truly the greatest of cities, namely this world, and sees all the land, both mountains and plains, full of animals and plants, and the streams of rivers, both overflowing and fed by winter floods, and the steady flow of the sea, and the admirable temperateness of the air, and the varieties and regular revolutions of the seasons of the year; and then too the sun and moon, the rulers of day and night, and the revolutions and regular motions of all the other planets and fixed stars, and of the whole heaven; would he not naturally, or rather of necessity, form a notion of the Father, creator and governor of this whole system, 35 since no work of art whatever comes into being of its own accord? And the world is the most artfully and skilfully made of all works, as if put together by someone altogether accomplished and most perfect in knowledge. This is how we have come to an idea of the existence of God. 36 Again, even if his essence is very difficult to ascertain and very hard to comprehend properly, we must still investigate its nature as far as possible; for there is no more excellent pursuit than searching out the nature of the true God, even though the discovery may transcend all human ability, since the very desire and effort to comprehend it can by itself provide indescribable pleasures and delights. 37 Witnesses to this are those who have not merely tasted philosophy with the tips of their lips, but have feasted abundantly on its reasonings and doctrines; for the reasoning of these men rises high above the earth and roams the air, and, soaring aloft with the sun, the moon and all the firmament of heaven in its eagerness to behold everything in it, finds its vision somewhat blurred by the vast flood of pure light poured over it, so that the eye of the soul is dazzled and confused by the splendour. 38 But he does not lose heart on that account and abandon the task he has undertaken; he presses on with invincible determination towards the sight he considers attainable, as if he were a competitor at the games, striving for second prize after missing the first. Guess and conjecture are inferior to true perception, as are all the notions classed as reasonable and plausible opinions. 39 So although we do not know and cannot accurately determine what each of the stars is in its pure and real essence, we are still eager to investigate the subject, delighting in probable reasoning because of the love of learning implanted in our nature. 40 In the same way, though we cannot reach a distinct conception of the truly living God, we still ought not to give up the task of investigating his character, because even if we fail to make the discovery, the search itself is useful in its own right and a worthy object of ambition; since no one ever blames the eyes of the body for being unable to look at the sun itself, and so shrinking from the brilliance its beams pour on them and looking down at the earth instead, recoiling from the extreme brilliance of the rays of the sun. 41 With this in view Moses, that interpreter of the divine word and the man most beloved by God, begged God and said, "Show me yourself"--all but pressing him and crying out in loud, distinct words--"the whole world teaches me that you have a real being and existence, assuring me of the fact and instructing me as a son might about the existence of his father, or a work about the existence of the workman. But though I very much want to know what you are in your essence, I can find no one anywhere in the universe who is able to explain to me anything about this branch of learning. 42 So I beg and implore you to receive the plea of a man who is your suppliant, devoted to God's service and wanting to serve you alone; for just as light is not made known by anything else but is its own manifestation, so you alone must be able to manifest yourself. So I hope to be pardoned if, for lack of anyone to teach me, I am bold enough to flee to you, wanting to receive instruction from you yourself." 43 But God replied, "I welcome your eagerness, since it is praiseworthy, but what you ask is not fit to be granted to any created being. And I bestow only the gifts that suit the one who receives them; for it is not possible for a man to receive all that it is easy for me to give. So to whoever deserves my favour I give all the gifts he is able to receive. 44 Not only human nature but even the whole heaven and the whole world is unable to reach an adequate comprehension of me. So know yourself, and do not be carried away by impulses and desires beyond your power; and do not let a desire of unattainable objects carry you away and keep you in suspense. For you shall not lack anything that you are able to possess." 45 When Moses heard this he turned to a second plea, and said, "Your explanations have persuaded me that I could not have received the visible appearance of your form. But I beg you to let me at least see the glory that surrounds you. And I take your glory to be the powers that attend you as your guards; I have not grasped them until now, and that stirs in me no slight desire to understand them thoroughly." 46 But God replied, "The powers you seek to see are altogether invisible and perceptible only to the intellect, since I myself am invisible and perceptible only to the intellect. And by things perceptible only to the intellect I do not mean those the mind already comprehends, but those which, even if they could be so comprehended, are still wholly beyond the reach of the outward senses and within reach only of the very purest intellect. 47 And though they are by nature incomprehensible in their essence, they still display a kind of impression or copy of their energy and operation; just as your seals, when wax or a similar material is pressed against them, make countless figures and impressions without losing any part of themselves, remaining unaltered and as they were before, so also you must conceive that the powers which are around me invest those things which have no distinctive qualities with such qualities, and those which have no forms with precise forms, and do so without any part of their own everlasting nature being dismembered or weakened. 48 And some of your race, speaking with sufficient correctness, call them ideas (ideai), since they give a peculiar character (idiopoiousi) to every existing thing, ordering what had no order before, and limiting, defining and fashioning what previously lacked all limitation, definition and fashion; and, in short, changing what was bad into something better in every respect. 49 "So never expect to be able to comprehend me or any one of my powers in our essence. But, as I have said, I willingly and gladly grant you whatever you are able to receive. And this gift is to call you to contemplate the world and everything in it, which must be comprehended not by the eyes of the body but by the sleepless vision of the soul. 50 The desire for wisdom alone is continual and incessant, and it fills all its pupils and disciples with famous and most beautiful doctrines." When Moses heard this he did not give up his desire, but still burned with longing to understand invisible things. 51 And he welcomes all people of a similar character and disposition, whether they were born that way or have become so through a change of conduct, having become better people and so entitled to be ranked in a higher class, approving of the first group because they have not defaced their nobility of birth, and of the second because they have chosen to change their lives and come over to nobility of conduct. And these last he calls proselytes (prosēlytous), because they have come over (proselēlythenai) to a new and God-fearing constitution, learning to disregard the fabulous inventions of other nations, and clinging to unalloyed truth. 52 Accordingly, having given equal rank and honour to all who come over and granted them the same favours bestowed on the native Jews, he urges those ennobled by truth to treat them not only with respect but with special friendship and lavish benevolence. And is this not a reasonable recommendation? What he says is this. "Those men, who have left their country, and their friends, and their relations for the sake of virtue and holiness, ought not to be left without other cities, houses and friends; there ought to be places of refuge always ready for those who come over to religion; for the most effectual allurement and the most indissoluble bond of affectionate good will is the mutual honouring of the one God." 53 Moreover, he also instructs his people that, once they have given the proselytes an equal share in all their laws, privileges and immunities when the proselytes forsake the pride of their fathers and ancestors, they must not give free rein to jealous language and unbridled tongues by blaspheming the beings the other group regards as gods, for fear that the proselytes, provoked by such treatment, would in return speak impiously against the true and holy God; for, not knowing the difference between them, and having learnt from infancy to regard what was false as true and been brought up with it, they would be likely to err. 54 And there are some of the Gentiles, who, neglecting the honour due to the one God alone, deserve the most severe punishment, since they have forsaken the most important class of piety and holiness, chosen darkness over the most brilliant light, and blinded their own intellect when it could have seen clearly. 55 And it is right that all who have any admiration for virtue should be charged to inflict all such punishment at once, without any delay, not bringing the offenders before any tribunal, council or bench of magistrates, but giving vent to their own disposition which hates evil and loves God, so as to punish the impious with implacable rigour, regarding themselves for the moment as everything: counsellors, and judges, and generals, and members of the assembly, and accusers, and witnesses, and laws, and the people; so that, with nothing conceivable to hinder them, they may all together come forward fearlessly to fight as the champions of holiness. 56 The history of the law records one man who ventured on this exploit of noble daring, for when he saw some men attaching themselves to foreign women and, because of their allurements, neglecting all their national customs and laws and practising mythical ceremonies, he was seized with a sudden enthusiasm in the presence of the whole multitude; and pushing aside all the people on either side who had gathered to watch, he killed one man who had dared to put himself forward as the leader and chief of this transgression of the law (for the impious deed had already been displayed and made a public spectacle), and while he was openly performing sacrifices to images and unholy idols, he, I say, without being influenced by any fear, killed him, together with the woman who was with him; the man because of his readiness to learn things it would have been better for him never to learn, and the woman because she was his teacher in evil. 57 This action, done suddenly in the heat of the moment, served as a warning to a vast multitude who were ready to commit similar follies; so God, praising this virtuous exploit, done in this way out of voluntary and spontaneous zeal, repaid the doer with two rewards: peace and the priesthood. With peace, because he judged that the man who had voluntarily taken on a contest for the honour of his God deserved to enjoy a life safe from war; and with the priesthood, because it is the most fitting honour for a pious man who professes eagerness to serve the Father of all, since serving him is better not only than all freedom but even than royal authority. 58 But some men have gone to such lengths of extravagant madness that they have left themselves no retreat or way to repentance, and rush headlong into slavery and service to images made by hands, declaring it in clear letters, not written on paper, as is the custom with slaves, but branding the characters deep on their persons with a burning iron, so that they remain indelibly, for these things are not dimmed or weakened by time. 59 And the most sacred Moses seems to have kept the same object and intention in every other case too, being both a lover and a teacher of truth, which he wants to stamp and impress on all his disciples, driving out all false opinions and forcing them to settle far from their minds. 60 At any rate, knowing that divination contributes greatly to the errors in the lives of the multitude and leads them out of the right way, he did not allow his disciples to use any kind of it at all, but drove all who practised it in any way far from his everlasting constitution, and banished all sacrificers and purifiers, and augurs, and soothsayers, and enchanters, and those who devoted themselves to the art of prophesying from sounds; 61 for all these men only guess at what is probable and likely, drawing different notions from the same appearances at different times, because the subjects of their art have no stable and constant character, and because the intellect has never devised any accurate test for examining the opinions that are approved. 62 And all these things are only the furniture of impiety. How so? Because he who attends to them, and who allows himself to be influenced by them, disregards the cause of all things, looking upon those things alone as the causes of all things, whether good or evil; and he does not perceive that he is making all the cares of life depend on the most unstable supports, upon the motion of birds and feathers in the air, in this and that direction; and upon the paths of reptiles, crawling along the ground, which creep out of their holes in search of food; and even upon entrails, and blood, and dead corpses, which, the moment they are deprived of life, fall to pieces and become confused; and, deprived of the original nature that belonged to them, are changed, and subjected to a transformation for the worse. 63 For he thinks it right that the man who is legally enrolled as a citizen of his constitution should be perfect, not in the things in which the multitude is educated, such as divination, and augury, and plausible conjectures, but in the observances due to God, which contain nothing doubtful or uncertain, but only indubitable and naked truth. 64 And since there is implanted in all men a desire to know future events, and since, because of this desire, they resort to sacrifices and other kinds of divination, as if by these means they would be able to search out and discover the truth (but these things are, in reality, full of indistinctness and uncertainty, and are continually being convicted by themselves), he forcefully forbids his disciples to apply themselves to such sources of knowledge; and he says that if they are truly pious they will not be deprived of a proper knowledge of the future; 65 but that some other Prophet will suddenly appear to them, inspired like himself, who will preach and prophesy among them, saying nothing of his own (for he who is truly possessed and inspired, even when he speaks, is unable to comprehend what he is himself saying), but that all the words he utters would come from him as if another were prompting him; for the prophets are interpreters of God, who is only using their voices as instruments, in order to explain what he chooses. Having said this, and other things like it, about the proper idea to be held of the one real, and true, and living God, he goes on to explain how one ought to pay him the honours that are his due. 66 We ought to look upon the universal world as the highest and truest temple of God, having as its most holy place the most sacred part of the essence of all existing things, namely, the heaven; as its ornaments, the stars; and as its priests, the subordinate ministers of his power, namely, the angels, incorporeal souls, not beings compounded of irrational and rational natures, such as our bodies are, but beings whose irrational parts are wholly cut out, being absolutely and wholly intellectual, pure reasonings, resembling the unit. 67 But the other temple is made with hands; for it was desirable not to cut short the impulses of men who were eager to bring in contributions for the objects of piety, and desirous either to show their gratitude by sacrifices for whatever good fortune had come to them, or else to implore pardon and forgiveness for whatever errors they might have committed. He also foresaw that there could not be a great number of temples built, either in many different places or in the same place, thinking it fitting that as God is one, his temple also should be one. 68 Next, he does not permit those who desire to perform sacrifices in their own houses to do so, but he orders all men to rise up, even from the furthest boundaries of the earth, and to come to this temple, and by this command he is at the same time testing their dispositions most severely; for he who was not about to offer sacrifice in a pure and holy spirit would never bring himself to leave his country, and his friends, and relations, and emigrate to a distant land, but, under the influence of an attraction more powerful than the attraction towards piety, would probably stay attached to the society of his most intimate friends and relations as portions of himself, to which he was most closely attached. 69 And the clearest proof of this is found in the events that actually took place. For innumerable companies of men from a countless variety of cities, some by land and some by sea, from east and from west, from the north and from the south, came to the temple at every festival, as if to some common refuge and safe asylum from the troubles of this most busy and painful life, seeking to find tranquillity, and to obtain release and respite from the cares that had hampered and weighed them down from their earliest infancy, 70 and so, by catching their breath, as it were, to spend a brief time in cheerful festivities, being filled with good hopes and enjoying the leisure of that most important and necessary holiday, which consists in forming friendships with people unknown until now but now initiated by boldness and a desire to honour God, and forming a combination of actions and a union of dispositions so as to join in sacrifices and libations as the fullest confirmation of mutual goodwill. 71 The outer circuit of this temple, the most extensive in both length and width, was protected by fortifications adorned at the greatest cost. And each of them is a double portico, built and adorned with the finest materials of wood and stone, and with abundant supplies of all kinds, and with the greatest skill of the workmen, and the most diligent care on the part of the superintendents. But the inner circuits were less extensive, and they were built and adorned more simply. 72 And in the centre was the temple itself, beautiful beyond all description, as one may guess from what can now be seen on the outside; for what is innermost is invisible to every human creature except the high priest alone, and even he is required to enter that holy place only once a year. So everything is invisible. For he carries in a brazier full of coals and frankincense; and when a great smoke rises from it, as is natural, and everything around is enveloped in it, the sight of men is clouded, and checked, and prevented from penetrating inside, being wholly unable to pierce the cloud. 73 But, being very large and very lofty, although built on very low ground, it is not inferior to any of the greatest mountains around. Its buildings are so exceedingly beautiful and magnificent that they are admired by all who see them, and especially by all foreigners who travel to those parts, who compare them with their own public buildings and marvel at both the beauty and the sumptuousness of this one. 74 But there is no grove or plantation in the space around it, in keeping with the prohibitions of the law, which forbid this for many reasons. First, because a building that is truly a temple does not aim at pleasure and seductive allurements, but at a rigid and austere sanctity. Second, because it is not proper to bring in the things that keep trees green, such as the dung of irrational animals and of men. Third, because trees that cannot be cultivated are of no use, but are, as the poets say, the burden of the earth; while those that can be cultivated, and that produce wholesome fruit, draw the attention of the fickle-minded away from thinking of the respect due to the holy place itself, and to the ceremonies in which they are engaged. 75 And besides these reasons, shady places and dense thickets are places of refuge for evil doers, since by wrapping them in darkness they give them safety and enable them to fall suddenly, as from an ambush, on anyone they choose to attack. But wide spaces, open and uncovered in every direction, where nothing can block the view, are best suited to giving a clear view to all those who enter and remain in the temple. 76 But the temple has for its revenues not only portions of land, but also other possessions of much greater extent and importance, which will never be destroyed or diminished; for as long as the human race lasts, the revenues of the temple will likewise always be preserved, lasting as long as the whole world. 77 For all men from twenty years old and upwards are commanded to bring their first fruits to the temple every year; and this contribution is called their ransom. So they bring in the first fruits very cheerfully, joyful and delighted, since at the very moment they make the offering they are sure to find either a relaxation from slavery, or a relief from disease, and to receive a completely secure freedom and safety in every respect for the future. 78 And since the nation is the most numerous of all peoples, it follows naturally that the first fruits contributed by them must also be most abundant. So in almost every city there is a storehouse for the sacred things, where the people customarily come to deposit their first fruits, and at certain seasons there are sacred ambassadors selected on account of their virtue, who convey the offerings to the temple. And the most eminent men of each tribe are elected to this office so that they may bring the hopes of each individual safely to their destination; for the hopes of the pious lie in the lawful offering of the first fruits. 79 There are twelve tribes of the nation, and one of them, selected from the others for its excellence, has received the priesthood, an honour given as a reward for its virtue, and fidelity, and its devout soul, which it displayed when the multitude appeared to be running into sin, following the foolish choices of some persons who persuaded their countrymen to imitate the vanity of the Egyptians, and the pride of the nations of the land, who had invented fables about irrational animals, and especially about bulls, making gods of them. For this tribe went out of its own accord and killed all the leaders of this apostasy, from the youth upwards, and in doing so appeared to have done a holy deed, taking on a contest and a labour for the sake of piety. 80 These are the laws that relate to the priests. The priest is required to be whole and unmutilated, having no blemish on his body, no part being deficient, either naturally or through mutilation; and on the other hand, nothing superfluous, whether present from his birth or grown later through disease; his skin, also, must never have changed from leprosy, or wild lichen, or scab, or any other eruption or breaking out; all of which seem to me designed as symbols of the purity of his soul. 81 For if it was necessary to examine the mortal body of the priest, so that it would not be imperfect through any misfortune, it was much more necessary to look into his immortal soul, which they say is fashioned in the form of the living God. The image of God is the Word, by which all the world was made. 82 And after enjoining that the priest is to be of pure blood, and descended from fathers of noble birth, and that he must be perfect in body and soul, laws are also enacted concerning the garments which the priest must wear when he is about to offer the sacred sacrifices and to perform the sacred ceremonies. 83 This dress is a linen tunic and a belt, the belt to cover the parts that must not be exposed naked near the altar of sacrifice. And the tunic allows promptness in performing the required ministrations; for they are but lightly clad, only in their tunics, when they bring their victims, and the libations, and the other requisite offerings for sacrifice, dressed so that they can move with unhesitating speed. 84 But the high priest is commanded to wear a similar dress when he goes into the holy of holies to offer incense, because linen is not made of any animal that dies, as woollen garments are. He is also commanded to wear another robe, with very beautiful embroidery and ornament on it, so that it may seem to be a copy and representation of the world. And the description of the ornament is a clear proof of this; 85 for first, the whole of the round robe is of hyacinthine colour, a tunic reaching to the feet, an emblem of the air, since the air too is by nature black, and may in a sense be said to reach to the feet, as it extends from the regions around the moon above to the lowest places of the earth. 86 Next there was a woven garment in the form of a breastplate on it, and this was a symbol of the heaven; for on the points of the shoulders are two emerald stones of the greatest value, one on one side and one on the other, each perfectly round and single on each side, as emblems of the hemispheres, one of which is above the earth and the other under the earth. 87 Then on his chest there are twelve precious stones of different colours, arranged in four rows of three stones each, fashioned as an emblem of the zodiac. For the zodiac also consists of twelve animals, and so divides the four seasons of the year, allotting three animals to each season. 88 And the whole place is very correctly called the logeum (logeion), since everything in heaven has been created and arranged in accordance with right reason (logois) and proportion; for there is absolutely nothing there that is devoid of reason. And on the logeum he embroiders two woven pieces of cloth, calling one manifestation and the other truth. 89 By the one he calls truth he expresses figuratively that it is absolutely impossible for falsehood to enter any part of heaven, but that it is entirely banished to the parts around the earth, dwelling among the souls of impious men. And by the one he calls manifestation he implies that the natures in heaven make manifest everything that takes place among us, things which on their own would remain completely and universally unknown. 90 And the clearest proof of this is that if there were no light, and if the sun did not shine, it would be impossible for the indescribable variety of qualities of bodies to be seen, and for all the manifold differences of colours and forms to be distinguished from one another. And what else could show us the days and the nights, and the months and the years, and in short the divisions of time, but the harmonious and inconceivable revolutions of the sun, and moon, and other stars? 91 And what could reveal the true nature of number, except those same bodies just mentioned, through the observation of how they combine the parts of time? And what else could have cut the paths through the ocean and through such numerous and vast seas, and shown them to navigators, except the changes and periodical appearances of the stars? And wise men have observed, 92 also, countless other circumstances, and have recorded them, conjecturing from the heavenly bodies the coming of calm weather and of violent storms, and the fertility or barrenness of crops, and the mild or violently hot summers, and whether the winters will be severe or spring-like, whether there will be droughts or abundance of rain, whether the flocks and trees will be fruitful, or on the contrary barren, and all such matters. For the signs of everything on earth are engraved and firmly fixed in heaven. 93 And besides this, golden pomegranates are attached to the lower parts of the tunic, reaching to the feet, and bells and borders embroidered with flowers. And these things are the emblems of earth and of water; the flowers are the emblems of the earth, since it is from the earth that they all rise and draw the strength to bloom. And the pomegranates mentioned above are the emblems of water, being named from the flowing of the stream. And the bells signify the harmony, and concord, and unison of sound of the different parts of the world. 94 And the arrangement is an excellent one; for the upper garment, on which the stones are placed, which is called the breast-plate, is a representation of heaven, because the heaven also is the highest of all things. And the tunic that reaches to the feet is in every part of a hyacinthine colour, since the air also is black, and holds second place, next in honour to the heaven. And the embroidered flowers and pomegranates are on the hem, because the earth and water have been assigned the lowest place in the universe. 95 This is the arrangement of the sacred dress of the high priest, being a representation of the universe, a marvellous work to see or to contemplate. For its appearance is designed to astonish, more than any embroidered work ever conceived by man, in its variety and costly magnificence; 96 and it also attracts the intellect of philosophers to examine its different parts. For God intends that the high priest should in the first place have a visible representation of the universe on him, in order that from the continual sight of it he may be reminded to make his own life worthy of the nature of the universe, and secondly, in order that the whole world may co-operate with him in the performance of his sacred rites. And it is entirely fitting that the man who is consecrated to the service of the Father of the world should also bring his son to the service of the one who fathered him. 97 There is also a third symbol contained in this sacred dress, which it is important not to pass over in silence. For the priests of other deities are accustomed to offer up prayers and sacrifices solely for their own relations, and friends, and fellow citizens. But the high priest of the Jews offers them up not only on behalf of the whole human race, but also on behalf of the different parts of nature, of the earth, of water, of air, and of fire; and pours out his prayers and thanksgivings for them all, looking upon the world (as indeed it really is) as his country, and for this reason he regularly implores and propitiates its governor with supplications and prayers, begging him to give a portion of his own merciful and humane nature to the things which he has created. 98 After he has given these precepts, he issues additional commandments, and orders him, whenever he approaches the altar and touches the sacrifices, at the time when it is appointed for him to perform his sacred ministrations, not to drink wine or any other strong drink, for four very important reasons: hesitation, and forgetfulness, and sleep, and folly. 99 For the intemperate man relaxes the powers of his body, and makes his limbs slower to move, and makes his whole body more inclined to hesitation, and forces it to become drowsy. And he also relaxes the energies of his soul, and so causes it forgetfulness and folly. But in abstemious men all the parts of the body are lighter, and so more active and mobile, and the outer senses are more pure and unalloyed, and the mind is gifted with a more acute sight, so that it is able to see things beforehand, and never forgets what it has previously seen; 100 in short, then, we must regard the use of wine as a most unprofitable thing for all the purposes of life, since by it the soul is weighed down, the outward senses are dimmed, and the body is enervated. For it leaves none of our faculties free and unhindered, but hinders every one of them, preventing it from attaining the object for which it is fitted by nature. But in sacred ceremonies and holy rites the harm is the most grievous of all, just as it is worse and more intolerable to sin against God than against man. This is probably why the priest is commanded to offer up sacrifices without wine, in order to make a difference and distinction between sacred and profane things, and pure and impure things, and lawful and unlawful things. 101 But since the priest was a man before he was a priest, and since he necessarily desires to indulge the appetites that prompt him to seek the union of love, he arranges for him a marriage with a pure virgin, and one who is born of pure parents, and grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, chosen for their excellence in both virtue and noble birth. 102 For God does not allow him even to look upon a harlot, or a profane body or soul, or upon anyone who, having put away her pursuit of gain, now wears an elegant and modest appearance, because such a woman is unholy because of her former profession and way of life, though in other respects she may be regarded as honourable, since she has purified herself of her former evil ways. For repentance for past sins is a thing to be praised; and no one else need be forbidden to marry her, only do not let her come near a priest. For the especial property of the priesthood is justice and purity, which from the very beginning of its creation to the end, seeks an utterly irreproachable concord. 103 For it would be sheer folly for some men to be excluded from the priesthood because of the scars which exist on their bodies from ancient wounds, which are the emblem of misfortune indeed, but not of wickedness; but for those persons who, not at all out of necessity but by their own deliberate choice, have made a market of their beauty, when at last they slowly repent, to be united to priests at once after leaving their lovers, and to come from brothels and be admitted into the sacred precincts. For the scars and impressions of their old offences remain no less in the souls of those who repent. 104 That is why it is wisely and truly said in another passage, that "One may not bring the hire of a harlot into the temple." And yet the money is not in itself liable to any reproach, except because of the woman who received it, and the action for which it was given to her. How then could one possibly allow women whose very money is regarded as profane and base, even though in its material and stamp it may be good and lawful money, to consort with priests? 105 So the regulations for the high priest are laid down precisely in this way: he is not allowed to marry a widow, whether one left desolate after the death of the man to whom she was betrothed, or one who has been divorced from a husband who is still alive, in order that the sacred seed may be sown for the first time in a field still untrodden and pure, and that his offspring may have no admixture of the blood of any other house. And second, so that the pair, coming together with souls that have not yet known any defilement or perversion, may easily form their dispositions and characters in a virtuous manner. For the minds of virgins are easily attracted and drawn over to virtue, since they are very ready to be taught. 106 But the woman who has had experience of another husband is very naturally less inclined to obedience and to instruction, since she does not have a perfectly pure soul, like thoroughly smooth wax, able to receive distinctly the doctrines that are to be impressed on it, but one that is to some degree rough from the impressions already stamped on it, which are difficult to erase, and so remain, and do not easily receive any other impression, or, if they do, make it confused by the irregularity of their own surface. 107 Let the high priest, therefore, take a pure virgin to be his wife; I say a virgin, meaning not only one with whom no other man has ever had relations, but one whose name has never been linked with any other man in an agreement of marriage, even though her body may be pure. 108 Besides this, instructions are given to the individual priests of lower rank concerning their marriages, which in most points are the very same as those given to the holder of the supreme priesthood. But they are permitted to marry, without penalty, not only maidens but also widows; not all widows, however, but those whose husbands are dead. For the law thinks it fitting to remove all quarrels and disputes from the life of the priests. For if the women had husbands still living, there might very likely be disputes arising from the jealousy that the love of men for women causes. But when the first husband is dead, the hostility that could be felt towards the second husband dies with him. 109 And for other reasons too he might have thought that the high priest ought to be of superior purity and holiness, in marriage as in other matters, and this may have been why God allowed the high priest to marry only a virgin. But to the priests of the second rank he relaxed something of the rigour of his regulations concerning relations with women, permitting them to marry women who have had experience of other husbands. 110 And besides these commands, he also defined precisely the family of the women who might be married by the high priest, commanding him to marry not merely a woman who was a virgin,⁠b but also one who was a priestess, the daughter of a priest, so that both bridegroom and bride might be of one house, and in a sense of one blood, and so display a most lasting harmony and union of disposition during the whole of their lives. 111 The others were also permitted to marry women who were not the daughters of priests, partly because their purificatory sacrifices are of only small importance, and partly because he was unwilling to disunite and separate the whole nation entirely from the order of the priesthood; and for this reason he did not prevent the other priests from intermarrying with any of their countrywomen, since that is relationship in the second degree; for sons-in-law are in the place of sons to their fathers-in-law, and fathers-in-law instead of fathers to their sons-in-law. 112 These, then, are the ordinances that were established concerning marriage, and concerning what closely resembles marriage, the procreation of children. But since destruction follows creation, Moses also gave the priests laws relating to death, commanding them not to let themselves be defiled for any and every person who might happen to die, and who might be connected with them through some bond of friendship, or distant relationship: but allowing them to mourn for six classes only, their fathers or their mothers, their sons or their daughters, their brothers or their sisters, provided that these last were virgins; 113 but he absolutely forbade the high priest to mourn in any case at all; and can we not say that this was rightly done? For as for the ministrations that belong to the other priests, one individual can perform them in place of another, so that, even if some are in mourning, none of the usual observances need be omitted; but no one besides the high priest himself is permitted to perform his duties; and for this reason he must always be kept free from all defilement, never touching any dead body, in order that, being always ready to offer up prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the whole world at suitable seasons, he may continue to fulfil the duties of his office without hindrance. 114 And apart from this consideration, the man who has been assigned to God, and who has become the leader of his sacred band of worshippers, ought to be detached and estranged from all created things, not so enslaved to love for parents, or children, or brothers as to omit or delay any one of those holy actions, which are by all means better done at once; 115 and God commands the high priest neither to tear his clothes over his very nearest relations when they die, nor to take from his head the ensign of the priesthood, nor in short to depart from the holy place on any pretext of mourning, so that, showing proper respect to the place, and to the sacred ornaments with which he himself is crowned, he may show himself superior to pity, and pass the whole of his life exempt from all sorrow. 116 For the law intends him to share in a nature superior to that of man, since he comes nearer to the nature of the Deity, standing, to tell the plain truth, on the border between the two, so that men may propitiate God through some mediator, and that God may have some subordinate minister by whom he may offer and give his mercies and kindnesses to mankind. 117 After saying this, he immediately goes on to lay down laws concerning those who are to use the first fruits, "If therefore, anyone among the priests," he says, "should be mutilated in their eyes, or their feet, or any part of their bodies, or if he has received any blemish, do not let him partake of the sacred ministrations because of the defects in him, but still let him enjoy those honours which are common to all the priests, because of his irreproachable nobility of birth." 118 "Moreover, if any leprosies break out and attack him or if any one of the priests is afflicted with any flux, do not let him touch the sacred table, nor any of the duties which are set apart for his race, until the flux stops, or the leprosy changes, so that he again resembles the complexion of sound flesh." 119 And if any priest by any chance at all touches anything unclean, or if he has impure dreams at night, as very often happens, let him touch nothing consecrated for all that day, but let him wash himself and wait for the following evening, and after that do not let him be hindered from touching them. 120 And let the sojourner in the priest's house, and the hired servant, be prevented from approaching the first fruits; the sojourner, because not everyone who is a neighbour shares a man's hearth and eats at his table; for there is reason to fear that some such person may cast away what is hallowed, using the pretence of some ill-timed kindness as a cloak for his impiety; for one should not give all men a share of all things, but only of the things suited to those who are to receive them; otherwise, the most beautiful and most beneficial of all things in this life, namely order, will be wasted away and destroyed by the most harmful of all things, namely, confusion. 121 For if in merchant vessels the sailors were to receive an equal share with the pilot of the ship, and if in ships of war the rowers and the mariners were to receive an equal share with the captain, and if in military camps the cavalry of the line were to receive an equal share with their officers, the heavy armed infantry with their colonels, and the colonels with the generals; again, if in cities the parties before the court were to be placed on the same footing as the judges, the committeemen with the ministers, and in short private individuals with the magistrates, there would be incessant troubles and seditions, and the equality in words would produce inequality in fact; for it is an unequal measure to give equal honour to persons who are unequal in rank or merit; and inequality is the root of all evil. 122 For this reason one must not give the honours of the priests to resident foreigners, just as one must not give them to anyone else, who in that case, because of their proximity, would be meddling in what is none of their business; for the honour does not belong to the house, but to the race. 123 In the same way, no one must give this sacred honour to a hireling, as his wages, or as a recompense for his service; for sometimes the one who receives it, being unholy, will use it for illegitimate purposes, making the honours due to purity of birth common, and profaning all the sacred ceremonies and observances relating to the temple; 124 and so the law entirely forbids any foreigner to partake in any degree of the holy things, even if he is a man of the noblest birth among the natives of the land, and irreproachable with respect to both men and women, so that the sacred honours may not be adulterated, but may remain carefully guarded in the family of the priests; 125 for it would be absurd for the sacrifices and holy ordinances, and all the other sacred observances pertaining to the altar, to be entrusted not to all men but to the priests alone, while the rewards for performing those things were common and liable to fall to anyone at random, as if it were reasonable for the priests to be worn out with labours and toils, and nightly and daily cares, but that the rewards for such pains should be common and open to those who do nothing. 126 But, he proceeds, let the priest who is his master give to the slave who is born in his house, and to him who has been purchased with money, a share of food and drink from the first fruits. In the first place, because the master is the only source of supply to the servant, and the master's inheritance is the sacred offices of humanity, by which the slave must necessarily be supported. 127 In the second place, because it is absolutely necessary that they not do unwillingly what has to be done; and servants, even though we may not like it, since they are always about us and living with us, preparing food, and drink, and delicacies for their masters beforehand, and standing at their tables, and carrying away the fragments that are left, even though they may not take any openly, will at any rate secretly appropriate some of the food, being compelled by necessity to steal, so that instead of one injury (if indeed it injures their masters to support them at their own expense), they are compelled to add a second to it, namely, theft; so that, like thieves, they may enjoy what has been consecrated by their masters who live irreproachably themselves; which is the most unreasonable thing possible. 128 Thirdly, one ought also to consider that the share of the first fruits will not be neglected merely because it is distributed to the servants, since they fear their masters; for this is sufficient to stop their mouths, preventing the arrogance of such persons from showing itself. 129 Having said this much, he next sets out a law full of humanity. If, he says, the daughter of a priest, having married a man who is not a priest, becomes a widow by the death of her husband, or if she is left childless while he is still alive, let her return again to her father's house, to receive her share of the first fruits which she enjoyed when she was a virgin; for to some degree and in effect she is now a virgin again, since she has neither husband nor children, and has no other refuge but her father; 130 but if she has sons or daughters, then the mother must necessarily be classed with the children; and the sons and daughters, being counted as members of their father's family, draw their mother also with them into his house. 131 The law did not allot any share of the land to the priests, so that, like others, they might derive revenues from the land and so have enough of the necessities of life; but granting them an excessive degree of honour, he said that God was their inheritance, referring to the things offered to God; and he did so for two purposes: first, to do them the highest honour, since they are thus made partners in those things which are offered up by pious men, out of gratitude to God; and second, so that they might have no business about which to trouble themselves except the offices of religion, as they would have had if they were forced to take care of their inheritance. And these are the rewards and preeminent honours that he assigns to them: 132 in the first place, that the necessary food for their support shall at all times be provided for them without any labour or toil of their own; for God commands those who are making bread to take a loaf from all the fat and all the dough as first fruits for the use of the priests, and by this legitimate instruction he provides for the men who set aside these first fruits as they proceed along the way that leads to piety; 133 for being accustomed at all times to offer first fruits of the necessary food, they will thus have an everlasting remembrance of God, and no greater blessing can be imagined than that; and it follows of necessity, that the first fruits offered by the most populous of nations must be very plentiful, so that even the very poorest of the priests must appear very wealthy in his abundance of all necessary food. 134 In the second place, he commands the nation also to give them the first fruits of their other possessions; a portion of wine out of each winepress; and of wheat and barley from each threshing floor. Likewise they were to have a share of oil from all the olive trees, and of eatable fruit from all the fruit trees, so that they might not live a squalid existence, having only barely enough of necessary food to support life, but that they might have sufficient for a certain degree of comfort and luxury, and so live cheerfully on abundant means, with all fitting elegance and refinement. 135 The third honour allotted to them is the assignment of all the first-born males of every kind of land animal born for the service and use of mankind; for these are the things which God commands to be given to the men consecrated to the priesthood; the offspring of oxen, and sheep, and goats, namely calves, and lambs, and kids, since they both are and are considered clean, both for the purposes of eating and of sacrifice, but he orders that money shall be given as a ransom for the young of other animals, such as horses, and asses and camels, and similar beasts, without disparaging their real value; 136 and the supplies this provides them are very great; for the people of this nation breed sheep, and cattle, and flocks of all kinds more than any other people, separating them with great care into flocks of goats, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and a vast quantity of other troops of animals of all kinds. 137 Moreover the law, going beyond all these enactments in their favour, commands the people to bring them the first fruits, not only of all their possessions of every description, but also of their own lives and bodies; for children are, so to speak, separable portions of their parents; but to tell the plain truth, they are inseparable, being of kindred blood, bound by the thoughts and memories of ancestors, invisible presences still alive among their descendants, and bound to them by the attractions of mutual goodwill, and by the indissoluble bonds of nature. 138 Even so, he also consecrates their own first-born male children in the manner of other first fruits, as a sort of thanks-offering for fertility and for a number of children both existing and hoped for, and wishing at the same time that their marriages be not only free from all blame but highly deserving of praise, since the first fruit that comes from them is consecrated to God; and keeping this in their minds, both husbands and wives ought to cling to modesty, and to attend to their household concerns, and to cherish unanimity, agreeing with one another, so that what is called a communion and partnership may truly be one, not only in word but also in deed. 139 As for the dedication of the first-born male children, in order that the parents may not be separated from their children, nor the children from their parents, he himself sets the value of these first fruits at a fixed sum of money, ordering everyone, both poor and rich, to contribute an equal sum, without any regard to the means of the contributors, nor to the vigour or beauty of the children who were born; but considering how much even a very poor man might be able to give; 140 for since the birth of children happens equally to the most noble and to the most obscure persons of the race, he thought it just to enact that their contribution should also be equal, aiming, as I have already said, particularly to fix a sum that everyone would be able to give. 141 After this he also appointed another source of revenue for the priests of no small importance, commanding them to take the first fruits of every one of the revenues of the nation, namely, the first fruits of the grain, and wine, and oil, and even of the produce of all the cattle, of the flocks of sheep, and herds of oxen, and flocks of goats, and of all other animals of all kinds; and anyone may guess from the vast population of the nation how great an abundance of these animals there must be; 142 from all these circumstances it is plain that the law invests the priests with the dignity and honour that belongs to kings; since he commands contributions from every kind of possession to be given to them as to rulers; 143 and so they are given to them in a manner quite the opposite of the way cities usually furnish them to their rulers; for cities usually furnish them under compulsion, and with great unwillingness and lamentation, looking upon the collectors of the taxes as common enemies and destroyers, and making all kinds of different excuses at different times, and neglecting all laws and ordinances, and only after all this shuffling and evasion do they contribute the taxes and payments which are levied on them. 144 But the men of this nation contribute their payments to the priests with joy and cheerfulness, anticipating the collectors, and cutting short the time allowed for making the contributions, and thinking that they are themselves receiving rather than giving; and so with words of blessing and thankfulness, they all, both men and women, bring their offerings at each of the seasons of the year, with a spontaneous cheerfulness, and readiness, and zeal, beyond all description. 145 And these things are assigned to the priests from the possessions of each individual, but there are also often special revenues set apart for them, exceedingly suitable for priests, which come from the sacrifices that are offered up; for it is commanded that two portions from two limbs of every victim shall be given to the priests, the arm from the limb on the right side, and the fat from the chest; for the one is a symbol of strength and manly vigour, and of every lawful action in giving, and taking, and acting: and the other is an emblem of human gentleness as far as the angry passions are concerned; 146 for it is said that these passions have their abode in the chest, since nature has assigned them the breast for their home as the most suitable place; and around it, as around a garrison, to secure them more effectively from capture, she has thrown a very strong fence called the chest, which she has made of many continuous and very strong bones, binding it firmly with nerves that cannot be broken. 147 But from the victims that are sacrificed away from the altar to be eaten, the law commands that three portions be given to the priest: an arm, and a jaw-bone, and what is called the paunch; the arm for the reason mentioned a little earlier; the jaw-bone as a first fruit of that most important of all the members of the body, namely the head, and also of uttered speech, for the stream of speech could not flow out without the motion of these jaws; for when they are set in motion (and very likely it is from this that they get their name) and are struck by the tongue, the whole organisation of the voice sounds at once; 148 and the paunch is a kind of excrescence of the belly. And the belly is a kind of stable for that irrational animal, appetite, which, being irrigated by much heavy drinking and gluttony, is continually washed with incessant provision of food and drink, and like a swine is delighted while wallowing in the mire; and for this reason a very suitable place indeed has been assigned to that intemperate and most improper beast, namely, the place to which all the superfluities are conveyed. 149 And the opposite to desire is temperance, which one must strive, labour and take pains to acquire by every means imaginable, as the very greatest blessing and most perfect benefit both to an individual and to the state. 150 Appetite, therefore, being a profane, and impure, and unholy thing, is driven beyond the territories of virtue, and is banished as it ought to be; but temperance, being a pure and unblemished virtue, neglecting everything which relates to eating and drinking, and boasting itself as superior to the pleasures of the belly, may be allowed to approach the sacred altars, since it brings forward the excrescence of the body as a memorial to remind it to despise all insatiability and gluttony, and everything that excites the appetites to this pitch. 151 And beyond all this he also orders that the priests who perform the offering of the sacrifices shall receive the skins of the whole burnt offerings (and they amount to an untold number, so this is no slight gift but one of the greatest value and importance); from this it is plain that although he has not given the priesthood a portion of land as its inheritance, as he has to others, he has yet assigned to them a more honourable and more untroubled share than any other tribe, granting them the first fruits of every description of sacrifice and offering. 152 And to prevent any of those who give the offerings from reproaching those who receive them, he commands that the first fruits should first of all be carried into the temple, and then orders that the priests shall take them out of the temple; for it suited the nature of God that those who had received kindness in all the circumstances of life, should bring the first fruits as thank-offering, and that he then, as a being in need of nothing, should with all dignity and honour bestow them on the servants and ministers who attend on the service of the temple; for to be seen receiving these things not from men but from the great Benefactor of all men is to receive a gift with no alloy of sadness in it. 153 Since, then, these honours are set out for them, if any of the priests are in any difficulty while living virtuously and irreproachably, they at once stand as our accusers for disregarding the law, even though they may not utter a word. For if we were to obey the commands which we have received, and if we were to take care to give the first fruits as we are commanded, they would not only have abundance of all necessary things, but would also be filled with all kinds of supplies to enable them to live in refinement and luxury. 154 And if at any time in the future the tribe of the priests is found to be blessed with a great abundance of all the necessaries and luxuries of life, this will be a great proof of their common holiness, and of their accurate observance of the laws and ordinances in every particular. But the neglect of some persons (for it is not safe to blame everyone) is the cause of poverty to those who have been dedicated to God, and, to tell the truth, to the men themselves as well. 155 For to violate the law is injurious to those who offend, even though it may be an attractive course for a short time; but to obey the ordinances of nature is most beneficial, even if at the time it may look painful and show nothing pleasant. 156 Having given all these supplies and revenues to the priests, he did not neglect those in the second rank of the priesthood either; and these are the keepers of the temple, of whom some are placed at the doors, at the very entrance of the temple, as door-keepers; and others are within, in the vestibule of the temple, so that no one who ought not to might enter it, either deliberately or by accident. Others, again, stand all around, having had the times of their watches assigned to them by lot, so as to watch by turns night and day, some being day watchmen and others night watchmen. Others, again, had charge of the porticoes and of the courts in the open air, and carried out all the rubbish, taking care of the cleanliness of the temple, and the tenths were assigned as the wages of all these men; for these tenths are the share of the keepers of the temple. 157 In any case, the law did not permit those who received them to make use of them, until they had again offered up as first fruits other tenths as if from their own private property, and had given these to the priests of the higher rank; only then did it permit them to enjoy them, and not before. 158 Moreover, the law allotted to them forty-eight cities, and with every city, suburbs extending two hundred cubits all around it, for the pasture of their cattle, and for the other necessary purposes that cities need. But six of these cities were set apart, three on the near side of the Jordan and three on the far side, as cities of refuge for those who had committed unintentional murder. 159 For as it was not consistent with holiness for one who had by any means whatever become the cause of death to any human being to come within the sacred precincts, using the temple as a place of refuge and as an asylum, Moses gave a sort of inferior sanctity to the cities above mentioned, allowing them to give great security, because of the privileges and honours conferred on the inhabitants, who were justified in protecting their suppliants if any superior power tried to use force against them, not by warlike preparations, but by rank, and dignity, and honour, which they had from the laws because of the venerable character of the priesthood. 160 But once the fugitive has got within the borders of the city to which he has fled for refuge, he must be kept close within it, because of the avengers waiting for him outside, the blood relatives of the man who has been slain, and who, out of regret for their kinsman, even if he has been slain by one who did not intend to do so, are still eager for the blood of the one who killed him, their individual and private grief overpowering their accurate notions of what is right. And if he goes out of the city, let him know that he is going out to certain destruction; for he will not escape the notice of any one of the slain man's relations, by whom he will at once be taken in nets and toils, and so he will perish. 161 And the limit of his banishment shall be the life of the high priest; and when he is dead, he shall be pardoned and return to his own city. Moses, having promulgated these and similar laws about the priests, proceeds to enact others concerning animals, namely, which beasts are suitable for sacrifice. 162 Of the creatures which are fit to be offered as sacrifices, some are land animals, and some are creatures that fly through the air. Passing over, therefore, the infinite varieties of birds, God chose only two classes out of them all, the turtledove and the pigeon; because the pigeon is by nature the most gentle of all those birds which are domesticated and gregarious, and the turtle-dove the most gentle of those which love solitude. 163 Also, passing over the innumerable troops of land animals, whose numbers are not easy even to ascertain, he selected these especially as the best--the oxen, and sheep, and goats; for these are the most gentle and the most manageable of all animals. At any rate, great herds of oxen, and numerous flocks of goats and sheep, are easily driven by anyone, not merely by any man, but by any little child, when they go forth to pasture, and in the same way they are brought back to their folds in good order when the time comes. 164 And there are many other proofs of this gentleness, the most evident being these: that they all feed on herbage, and that none of them is carnivorous, and that they have neither crooked talons, nor any projecting tusks or teeth whatever; for they lack all the incisor teeth in the front of the upper jaw: 165 and besides this, they are the most useful of all animals to man. Rams are the most useful for the necessary covering of the body; oxen, for ploughing the ground and preparing the arable land for seed, and for growing the crops that will later be threshed, so that men may partake of and enjoy food; and the hair and fleeces of goats, the one woven and the other sewn together, make movable tents for travellers, and especially for men engaged in military expeditions, whom their necessities constantly compel to stay outside of the city in the open air. 166 And the victims must be whole and entire, without any blemish on any part of their bodies, unmutilated, perfect in every part, and without spot or defect of any kind. At any rate, such great caution is used not only with respect to those who offer the sacrifices, but also to the victims which are offered, that the most eminent of the priests are carefully selected to examine whether they have any blemishes or not, and scrutinise them from head to foot, inspecting not only those parts which are easily visible, but all those which are more out of sight, such as the belly and the thighs, so that not even a slight imperfection escapes notice. 167 And the investigation is so accurate and minute not so much for the sake of the victims themselves as so that those who offer them may be irreproachable; for God designed to teach the Jews by these figures, whenever they went up to the altars to pray or give thanks there, never to bring with them any weakness or evil passion in their soul, but to endeavour to make it wholly and entirely bright and clean, without any blemish, so that God might not turn away with aversion from the sight of it. 168 And since, of the sacrifices to be offered, some are on behalf of the whole nation, and indeed, to tell the real truth, on behalf of all mankind, while others are only on behalf of each individual who has chosen to offer them; we must speak first of all of those which are for the common welfare of the whole nation, and the regulations with respect to this kind of sacrifice are marvellous. 169 For some of them are offered up every day, and some on the days of the new moon, and at the festivals of the full moon; others on days of fasting; and others on three different festival occasions. Accordingly, it is commanded that every day the priests should offer up two lambs, one at dawn, and the other in the evening; each of them being a sacrifice of thanksgiving; the one for the kindnesses which have been bestowed during the day, and the other for the mercies which have been granted in the night, which God is incessantly and uninterruptedly pouring upon the race of men. 170 And on the seventh day he doubles the number of victims to be offered, giving equal honour to equal things, since he regards the seventh day as equal in dignity to eternity, having recorded it as the birthday of the whole world. For this reason he has seen fit to make the sacrifice offered on the seventh day equal to the continuation of what is usually sacrificed in one day. 171 Moreover, the most fragrant of all incense is offered up twice every day in the fire, being burnt within the veil, both when the sun rises and sets, before the morning and after the evening sacrifice, so that the sacrifices of blood display our gratitude for ourselves as beings composed of blood, but the offerings of incense show our thankfulness for the dominant part within us, our rational spirit, which was fashioned after the archetypal model of the divine image. 172 And on the seventh day loaves are placed on the sacred table, equal in number to the months of the year, twelve loaves, arranged in two rows of six each, in accordance with the arrangement of the equinoxes; for there are two equinoxes every year, the vernal and the autumnal, which are each reckoned by periods of six months. At the vernal equinox all the seeds sown in the ground begin to ripen; about which time, also, the trees begin to put forth their fruit. And by the autumnal equinox the fruit of the trees has arrived at a perfect ripeness; and this period, again, is the beginning of seed time. Thus nature, going through a long course of time, showers gift after gift on the race of man, and the two sixes of loaves placed on the table in this way are their symbols. 173 These loaves also figuratively suggest that most useful of all virtues, temperance; which is attended by frugality, and economy, and moderation as so many bodyguards, on account of the pernicious attacks which intemperance and covetousness prepare to make upon it. For, to a lover of wisdom, a loaf is sufficient nourishment, keeping the body free from disease, and the intellect sound, and healthy, and sober. 174 But high seasonings, and cheesecakes, and sweetmeats, and all the other delicacies which the superfluous skill of confectioners and cooks concoct to cajole the illiterate, and unphilosophical, and most slavish of all the outward senses, namely, taste, which is never influenced by any noble sight, or by any perceptible lesson, but only by desire to indulge the appetites of the miserable belly, constantly engenders incurable diseases both in the body and the mind. 175 And with the loaves there is also placed on the table frankincense and salt. The frankincense is a symbol that there is no sweetmeat more fragrant and wholesome than economy and temperance, if wisdom is to be the judge; while salt is an emblem of the duration of all things (for salt preserves everything over which it is sprinkled), and also of sufficient seasoning. 176 I know that those men who devote themselves wholly to drinking parties and banquets, and who care only for costly entertainments, will make a mockery of these things and turn them into ridicule, miserable slaves that they are to birds, and fish, and meat, and all such nonsense, unable to taste true freedom even in a dream. And all such men are to be disregarded and despised by those who seek to live in accordance with the will of God, in a manner pleasing to the true and living God; who, having learnt to despise the pleasures of the flesh, pursue the delights and luxuries of the mind, having exercised themselves in the contemplation of the objects of Nature. 177 After he had ordered these things concerning the seventh day, he said that for the new moons it is necessary to offer ten whole burnt offerings in all: two young bulls, one ram, seven lambs. For since the month, in which the moon makes its way through its cycle, is perfect, he thought that a perfect number of animals should be sacrificed. 178 The number ten is the completely perfect number which he most appropriately assigned to the animals which have been mentioned: the two young bulls since there are two motions of the moon as it continually runs its double-course--the motion of waxing until full moon and the motion of waning until its conjunction with the sun; one ram since there is one principle of reason by which the moon waxes and wanes in equal intervals, both as it increases and diminishes in illumination; the seven lambs because it receives the perfect shapes in periods of seven days--the half-moon in the first seven day period after its conjunction with the sun, full moon in the second; and when it returns, it comes first to half-moon, then it ceases at its conjunction with the sun. 179 With the sacrificial victims he ordered that the finest wheaten flour mixed with oil be offered and wine in stipulated amounts for drink-offerings. The reason is that even these are brought to maturity by the orbits of the moon in the annual seasons, especially as the moon helps to ripen fruits; wheat and wine and oil--the most helpful substances for life and the most essential for use by humans--are suitably dedicated together with all sacrifices. 180 At the feast that begins the sacred month, double sacrifices are fittingly offered since the reason for it is double: one, since it is the new moon; the other, since it is the feast which begins the sacred month. Regarding the fact that it is the new moon it is distinctly stated that sacrifices equal to the other new moons are to be sacrificed. Regarding the fact that it is the feast which begins the sacred month, the gifts are doubled apart from the young bulls. For one rather than two is offered since the judge has thought it correct to use the indivisible nature of the number one instead of the divisible number two at the beginning of the year. 181 In the first season--he calls springtime and its equinox the first season--he ordered that a feast which is called "the feast of unleavened bread" be celebrated for seven days and declared that every day was equal in honor in religious services. For he commanded that each day ten whole burnt offerings should be sacrificed just as they are for the new moons, making the total number of whole burnt offerings apart from those dealing with the trespass offerings seventy. 182 For he thought that the same reason that governed the relation of the new moon to the month governed the relation of the seven days of the feast to the equinox that took place in the seventh month. As a result he declared sacred both the beginning of each month and the beginning of the seven months taken together, consisting of the same number of days as the new moons. 183 In the middle of spring the harvest takes place at which season thank offerings are offered to God from the field because it has produced fruit in abundance and the crops are being harvested. This feast is the most publicly celebrated feast and is called "the feast of the first produce," named etymologically from the fact that the first of the produce, the first fruits, are dedicated at that time. 184 We are ordered to offer two young bulls as sacrifices, one ram, and seven lambs--these ten are sacred whole burnt offerings--and in addition, two lambs as food for the priests which he calls "lambs of preservation" since food is preserved for humans through many and varied circumstances. For destructive forces frequently occur: some by heavy rains, some by droughts, some by other unspeakably great changes in nature; and again, some are humanly produced through the invasion of enemies who attempt to lay waste their neighbors' land. 185 Suitably then, the preservation offerings are offered to the one who has thwarted all plots as thank offerings. They are offered with loaves which, after the people have brought them to the altar and lifted them up to heaven, they give to the priests along with the meat of the sacrifice of preservation for a most appropriate sacred feast. 186 When the third season takes place in the seventh month at the autumnal equinox, at the beginning of the month, the feast which begins the sacred month named "the feast of trumpets" and which was discussed earlier is celebrated. On the tenth day the fast takes place which they take seriously--not only those who are zealous about piety and holiness, but even those who do nothing religious the rest of the time. For all are astounded, overcome with the sacredness of it; in fact, at that time the worse compete with the better in self-control and virtue. 187 The reputation of the day is due to two reasons: first, that it is a feast, and second, that it is purification and escape from sins for which amnesty has been given by the favors of the gracious God who has assigned the same honor to repentance that he has to not committing a single sin. 188 Therefore he declared that since it was a feast the sacrifices should be the same number as those of the feast which begins the sacred month: a young bull, a ram, and seven lambs. In this way he mixed the number one with the number seven and lined the end up with the beginning, for the number seven has been appointed the end of things and the number one the beginning. He added three sacrifices since it was for purification. For he ordered that two he-goats and a ram be offered. Then he said that it was necessary to offer the ram as a whole burnt offering, but to cast lots for the he-goats. The he-goat selected by lot for God must be sacrificed, but the other was to be sent out into a pathless and inaccessible desolate place carrying on himself the curses of those who had committed offenses, but who were purified by changes for the better and who have washed themselves from their old lawlessness with a new sense of loyalty to the law. 189 On the fifteenth day, at full moon, the feast which is called "the feast of booths" is celebrated for which the supplies of the sacrifices are more numerous. For during seven days, seventy young bulls, fourteen rams and ninety-eight lambs are sacrificed--all animals as whole burnt offerings. We are ordered to consider the eighth day sacred, a day which I must deal with carefully when the entire account of the feasts is thoroughly examined. On this day as many sacrifices are offered as on the feast which begins the sacred month. 190 The sacrifices which are whole burnt offerings and are joint offerings on behalf of the nation or--to speak more accurately--on behalf of the entire race of humanity have been addressed to the best of my ability. However, a he-goat accompanies the whole burnt offerings on each day of the feast. He is called "concerning sins" and is sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. His meat is distributed to the priests for food. 191 What is the reason for this? Is it because a feast is a time of good cheer, and undeceiving and true good cheer is good sense firmly established in the soul, and this unwavering good sense is impossible to receive without a cure from sins and cutting off of the passions? For it would be out of place if each of the animals of the whole burnt offerings is sacrificed only when it is found undamaged and unhurt, but the mind of the sacrificer has not been purified in every way and cleansed by making use of washings and lustrations which the right reason of nature pours into God-loving souls through healthy and uncorrupt ears. 192 In addition the following ought to be said. These festal and holiday rests have in the past often opened up countless avenues to sins. For unmixed beverage and luxurious diets with excessive drinking arouse the insatiable desires of the stomach and also kindle the desires of the parts beneath the stomach. As these desires both flow and stream out in every way, they produce a surge of unspeakable evils using the fearless stimulant of the feast as a refuge to avoid suffering anything. 193 Knowing these things, he did not allow them to celebrate a feast in the same way as other peoples, but at the very time of good cheer he first commanded that they purify themselves by bridling the impulses of pleasure. Then he summoned them into the temple for participation in hymns and prayers and sacrifices so that both from the place and from the things seen and said through the most powerful of senses, sight and hearing, they might come to love self-control and piety. Last of all, he reminded them not to sin through the sacrifice for sin. For the one who is asking for amnesty for the sins he has committed is not so dominated by evil that at the very time he is asking for release from old wrongs he should begin other new ones. 194 After the lawgiver has given these commands with reference to these subjects, he begins to distinguish between the different kinds of sacrifices, and he divides the victims into three classes. The most important he makes a whole burnt offering; the next, an offering for preservation; the last, a sin-offering. And then he adapts suitable ceremonies and rites to each, aiming, and with real success, at what is at once decorous and holy. 195 And the distinction he makes is very beautiful and fitting, closely connected and in a sense naturally akin to the things themselves; for if anyone wished to examine closely why the first men chose to turn both to sacrifices to show their gratitude and to supplications, he would find two chief reasons for this conduct. First, it contributes to the honour of God, which ought to be sought for no other reason but for itself alone, since it is both honourable and necessary; and second, the benefits which have been poured upon the sacrificers themselves, as has been said before. And the benefit they gain is also twofold: a share in good things and deliverance from evils. 196 So the law has assigned the whole burnt offering as the sacrifice fit for the honour that suits God and belongs to God alone, requiring that what is offered to the all-perfect and absolute God must itself be entire and perfect, with no taint of mortal selfishness in it. But the law has also distinguished the sacrifice offered for the sake of men, since it visibly allows distinction, appointing it as a sacrifice for the share in blessings that mankind has enjoyed, and calling it a thank-offering for their preservation. And for deliverance from evils it has allotted the sacrifice called a sin-offering, so that these sacrifices very appropriately match these causes; 197 the whole burnt-offering is sacrificed for God himself alone, who must be honoured for his own sake and not for the sake of any other being or thing; and the others are for our sake: the thank-offering for our preservation, for the safety and improvement of human affairs; and the sin-offering for the cure of the offences the soul has committed. 198 We must now list the laws enacted about each sacrifice, beginning with the most excellent. The most excellent sacrifice is the whole burnt-offering. The law says, "In the first place the victim shall be a male, carefully selected for its excellence from all the animals which are fit for sacrifice, a calf, or a lamb, or a kid. Then let the one who brings it wash his hands, and lay his hands on the head of the victim. 199 And after this let one of the priests take the victim and sacrifice it, and let another hold a bowl under it, and, having caught some of the blood, let him go all around the altar and sprinkle it with the blood, and let him flay the victim and divide it into large pieces, after washing its entrails and its feet. Then let the whole victim, now become many things instead of one and one instead of many, be given to the fire of the altar of God." 200 These things, then, are contained in the explicit words of the command. But another meaning lies figuratively concealed under the enigmatic expressions. And the words used are visible symbols of what is invisible and uncertain. The victim to be sacrificed as a whole burnt offering must be a male, because a male is both more akin to domination than a female is and more closely related to the efficient cause; for the female is imperfect, subject, seen more as the passive than as the active partner. 201 And since our soul consists of two elements, the rational part and the irrational part, the rational part belongs to the male sex, as the inheritance of intellect and reason; but the irrational part belongs to the female sex, which is also the portion of the outward senses. And the mind is in every respect superior to the outward sense, as the man is to the woman; and the mind, when it is without blemish and purified with the proper purifications, namely, the perfect virtues, is itself the most holy sacrifice, wholly and in every respect pleasing to God. 202 Again, the hands laid on the head of the victim are a very clear symbol of irreproachable actions, and of a life that does nothing open to accusation but is lived in every respect in keeping with the laws and ordinances of nature; 203 for the law wants, first, the mind of the man offering the sacrifice to be made holy by training in good and useful doctrines; and second, his life to consist of the most virtuous actions, so that, as he lays on his hands, the man may speak freely out of his clean conscience and say, 204 "These hands have never taken any gift as a bribe to commit an unjust act, nor any share of what was gained by plunder or by greed, nor have they shed innocent blood, nor have they caused mutilation, insolent deeds or acts of violence, nor inflicted any wounds; nor, in fact, have they done anything at all open to accusation or reproach, but they have served in everything honourable and useful, everything honoured by wisdom, or by the laws, or by honourable and virtuous men." 205 And the blood is poured out in a circle all around the altar, because a circle is the most complete of all figures, and also so that no part at all is left empty and untouched by the libation of life; for, properly speaking, the blood is the libation of the life. So the law here teaches us symbolically that the mind, which always dances in a circle, always shows its desire to please God through every kind of word, intention and action it adopts. 206 And the command that the belly and the feet be washed is figurative and very expressive; for the belly figuratively signifies that the appetites, which are full of stains, intoxication and drunkenness, ought to be purified, since they are a most pernicious evil, existing, concocted and exercised to the great injury of the life of mankind. 207 And the command to wash the feet of the victim shows figuratively that we must no longer walk on the earth, but soar aloft and traverse the air. For the soul of the man who is devoted to God, being eager for truth, springs upward and mounts from earth to heaven; and, borne on wings, traverses the expanse of the air, eager to be ranked with and to move in concert with the sun, and moon, and all the rest of the most sacred and most harmonious company of the stars, under the immediate command and government of God, who holds a kingly authority that has no rival and that he can never be deprived of, and by which he justly governs the universe. 208 And the division of the animal into limbs shows plainly that all things are only one, or that they come from one and are dissolved into one; this some have called satiety and lack, and others combustion and arrangement: combustion, in accordance with the supreme power of God, who rules all other things in the world; and arrangement, according to the equality that the four elements all grant to one another. 209 And as I have investigated these matters, this has seemed to me a probable conjecture: the soul that honours the living God ought for that very reason to honour him not thoughtlessly or ignorantly, but with knowledge and reason; and our reasoning about God can be divided and partitioned, according to each of the divine faculties and excellencies; for God is both all-good and the maker and creator of the universe; and he created it with foreknowledge of what would happen, and being its preserver and most blessed benefactor, full of every kind of happiness; all of these are in themselves most dignified and praiseworthy, both separately and when seen together with their kindred qualities; 210 and we must speak in the same way of other matters. When you wish to give thanks to God with your mind, and to express your gratitude for the creation of the world, thank him for creating it as a whole, and for all its separate parts in their integrity, as if for the limbs of a most perfect animal; and by the parts I mean, for instance, the heaven, and the sun, and the moon, and the fixed stars; and secondly the earth, and the animals, and plants which spring from it; and next the seas and rivers, whether naturally springing from the ground or swollen by rain as winter torrents, and all the things in them: and lastly, the air and all the changes that take place in it; for winter, and summer, and spring, and autumn, being the seasons of the year, and being all of great service to mankind, are what we may call affections of the air for the preservation of all these things that are beneath the moon. 211 And whenever you give thanks for men and their fortunes, do not do so only for the race as a whole, but give thanks also for the species and most important parts of the race, such as men and women, Greeks and barbarians, men on the continent, and those who live on the islands; and if you are giving thanks for one individual, do not break up the thanks you express into gratitude for minute trifles and insignificant matters, but take in the broadest aspects: first of all, the body and soul he consists of, and then his speech, and his mind, and his outward senses; for gratitude uttered for each of these particulars cannot in itself be unworthy of God's hearing. 212 This is enough to say about the sacrifice of the whole burnt-offering. We must now go on in due order to consider the offering called the sacrifice for preservation; for with this one it does not matter whether the victim is male or female; and when it is slain, these three parts are especially selected for the altar, the fat, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys; and all the other parts are left to make a feast for the sacrificer; 213 and we must consider very carefully why these portions of the entrails are regarded as sacred in this case, and not pass over this point carelessly. Often, as I have considered this matter in my own mind and investigated all these commandments, I have wondered why the law selected the lobe of the liver, and the kidneys, and the fat, as the first fruits of the animals thus sacrificed; and did not choose the heart or the brain, though the dominant part of the man resides in one of these parts; 214 and I think also that many other persons who read the sacred scriptures with their mind, rather than merely with their eyes, will ask the same question. If, then, after considering the matter, they can find a more probable reason, they will benefit both themselves and us; but if they cannot, let them consider the cause we have found and see whether it stands the test; and here it is. Of all the powers in us, the dominant power alone is able to restrain our natural folly, and injustice, and cowardice, and our other vices, and does restrain them; and this dominant power dwells in one or the other of the parts of us mentioned above, that is, it is either the brain or the heart; 215 so the sacred commandment has decided that no one should bring to the altar of God, through which remission and complete pardon of all sins and transgressions are obtained, the vessel in which the mind once dwelt and from which it went out on the trackless road of injustice and impiety, turning aside from the way that leads to virtue and excellence; for it would be folly to suppose that sacrifices were meant not to bring forgetfulness of offences but to act as a reminder of them. This, it seems to me, is the reason why neither of those two parts of supreme importance, namely, the brain or the heart, is brought to the altar; 216 and there is a very suitable reason for bringing the parts that are commanded; the fat is brought because it is the richest part and the part that guards the entrails; for it envelops them and makes them flourish, and benefits them by the softness of its touch. And the kidneys are selected by command because of the adjacent parts and the organs of generation, which, living near them, they assist and co-operate with like good neighbours, so that the seed of nature may prosper with nothing near it standing in its way; for they are blood-coloured receptacles in which the moist part of the purification of the body's superfluities is separated from the body; and nearby are the testicles, by which the seed is irrigated. And the lobe of the liver is the first fruit of the most important of the entrails, by which the food is digested and, after being conveyed into the stomach, is diffused through all the veins, and so contributes to the durability of the whole body; 217 for the stomach, lying close to the gullet which swallows the food, receives it as soon as it has first been chewed and made smooth by the teeth, and so digests it; and the body in turn receives it from the stomach and performs the second part of the required service, for which nature has indeed destined it, giving off a juice that helps liquefy the food; and in the belly there are two channel-like pipes that pour chyle into the liver through the two channels originally placed in it. 218 And the liver has a twofold power: one of secretion and one of making blood. The secretive power secretes everything that is hard and difficult to digest, and removes it into the adjacent vessels of gall; and the other power, by means of its own innate flame, turns all the pure and properly strained portion of the food into life-like, vivifying blood; and presses it into the heart, from which, as has already been said, it is conveyed through the veins and by these channels diffused through the whole body, which it nourishes. 219 We must also add to what has been said here that the liver, being lofty and very smooth, is regarded because of its smoothness as a very transparent mirror, so that when the mind, retreating from the cares of the day (while the body is lying relaxed in sleep, and while none of the outward senses is any hindrance or impediment), begins to turn itself about and to consider the objects of its thought by itself without any interruption, looking into the liver as into a mirror, it then sees, very clearly and without any alloy, each of the proper objects of the intellect, and looking round upon all vain idols, and seeing that no disgrace can come to it, but taking care to avoid that and to choose the contrary, and, contented and pleased with all that it sees, it gains through dreams a prophetic sight of the future. 220 God permits the nation to use the sacrifice for preservation on two days only, commanding them to leave none of it until the third day, for many reasons: first of all, because everything ever placed on the sacred table ought to be used in due season, while those using it take care that it suffers no deterioration over time; but meat that has been kept naturally tends to become putrid, even though it may have been seasoned in the cooking; 221 secondly, because it is fitting that the sacrifices should not be stored up for food, but should be openly set out, to give a meal to all who need it, for once the sacrifice is placed on the altar, it is no longer the property of the person who has offered it, but belongs to the Being to whom the victim is sacrificed, who, being a beneficent and bounteous God, makes the whole company of those who offer the sacrifice partakers at the altar and messmates, only warning them not to regard it as their own feast, for they are only stewards of the feast, not the hosts; and the host is the one to whom all the preparation belongs, and it is not lawful to hide it away, preferring parsimony and ungenerous meanness to humanity, which is a noble virtue. 222 Lastly, this command was given because the sacrifice for preservation happens to be offered for two things, the soul and the body, to each of which the lawgiver has assigned one day for feasting on the meats, for it was fitting that the number of days allotted for this purpose should equal the number of parts in us designed to be sacred; so that on the first day, as we eat the food, we should be reminded of the salvation of our souls; and on the second day be reminded of the sound health of our bodies. 223 And since nature has appointed no third thing to be preserved, he has, with all possible strictness, forbidden keeping those meats for use on the third day, commanding that if, out of ignorance or forgetfulness, any portion happened to be left, it should be consumed with fire; and he declares that the man who has merely tasted it is to blame, saying to him, "Foolish man, you thought you were sacrificing, but you have not sacrificed; I have not accepted the unholy, unconsecrated, profane, unclean meats which you have roasted, gluttonous man; you have never, even in a dream, had a proper idea of sacrifice." 224 To this kind of sacrifice for preservation also belongs the one called the sacrifice of praise, which rests on the following principle. The man who has never fallen into any unexpected disaster at all, either in his body or in his external circumstances, but who has passed a tranquil and peaceful life, living in happiness and prosperity, being free from all calamity and all mishap, steering through the long voyage of life in calmness and serenity of circumstances, good fortune always blowing upon the stern of his vessel, is, of necessity, bound to repay God, who has been the pilot of his voyage, who has bestowed upon him untroubled salvation and unalloyed benefits, and, in short, all sorts of blessings unmingled with any evil, with hymns, and songs, and prayers, and also with sacrifices, and all other imaginable tokens of gratitude in a holy manner; and all these things taken together have received the one comprehensive name of praise. 225 The lawgiver has not commanded this sacrifice to be spread over two days like the one mentioned before, but has confined it to one only, so that these men, who receive ready benefits freely poured upon them, may offer their repayment freely and without any delay. 226 That is enough to say on these subjects. We must now proceed, in due order, to consider the third sacrifice, which is called the sin-offering. It varies in many ways, both in the persons and in the kind of victims offered: in the persons, that is, the high priest, the whole nation, the ruler in his turn and the private individual; and in the victim offered, whether it is a calf, a kid, a she-goat or a lamb. 227 A very necessary distinction is also made as to whether they are voluntary or involuntary, concerning those who, after they have erred, change for the better, confessing that they have sinned, and reproaching themselves for the offences that they have committed, and turning from then on to an irreproachable way of life. 228 So the sins of the high priest and of the whole nation are atoned for by animals of equal value, for the priest is commanded to offer up a calf for each. The sins of the ruler are atoned for by an inferior animal, but still a male, for a kid is the appointed victim. The sins of the private individual are atoned for by a victim of an inferior species, for a female, not a male, is sacrificed: a she-goat; 229 for it was fitting that a ruler should rank above a private individual even in performing sacred ceremonies: but the nation is superior to the ruler, since the whole must, at all times, be superior to the part. But the high priest is counted worthy of the same honour as the whole nation in purification and in begging forgiveness of his sins from the merciful power of God. And he receives equal honour, it seems, not so much for his own sake as because he is a servant of the nation, offering up a common thank-offering for them all in his most sacred prayers and most holy sacrifices. 230 And the commandment given on these matters has great dignity and admirable solemnity. "If," says the law, "the high priest has sinned unintentionally," and then it adds, "so that the people has sinned too," all but stating in so many words that the true high priest, not the one wrongly called so, has no share in sin; and if ever he stumbles, this will happen to him, not for his own sake, but for the common errors of the nation, and this error is not incurable, but one that is easily remedied. 231 When, therefore, the calf has been sacrificed, the lawgiver commands the sacrificer to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times in front of the veil which is before the holy of holies, within the former veil, where the sacred vessels are placed; and after that to smear and anoint the four horns of the altar, for it is square; and to pour out the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar, which is in the open air. 232 And to this altar they are commanded to bring three things, the fat, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, in accordance with the commandment given with reference to the sacrifice for preservation; but the skin and the flesh, and all the rest of the body of the calf, from the head to the feet, with the entrails, they are commanded to carry out and to burn in an open place, to which the sacred ashes from the altar have been conveyed. The lawgiver also gives the same command with respect to the whole nation when it has sinned. 233 But if any ruler has sinned he makes his purification with a kid, as I have said before; and if a private individual has sinned, he must offer a she-goat or a lamb; and for the ruler he appoints a male victim, but for the private individual a female, making all his other instructions the same in both cases: to anoint the horns of the altar in the open air with blood, to bring the fat and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and to give the rest of the victim to the priests to eat. 234 But since some offences are committed against men and some against holy and sacred things, he has until now been speaking of those committed unintentionally against men; but for the purification of those committed against sacred things he commands that a ram be offered, after the offender has first paid the value of the thing to which the offence related, adding one fifth to the exact value. 235 And after setting out these and similar enactments about sins committed unintentionally, he goes on to lay down rules about intentional offences. "If anyone," says the law, "shall speak falsely concerning a partnership, or about a deposit, or about a theft, or about the finding of something which another has lost, and, being suspected and put to an oath, shall swear, and when he appears to have escaped all conviction at the hands of his accusers, shall himself become his own accuser, convicted by his own conscience within him, and shall reproach himself for the things he has denied and sworn falsely about, and shall come and openly confess the sin which he has committed, and implore pardon; 236 then pardon shall be given to such a man, who shows the truth of his repentance, not by promises but by works, by restoring the deposit which he has received, and by giving up the things which he has stolen or found, or, in short, anything of which he has in any way deprived his neighbour, paying also in addition one fifth of the value, as an atonement for the evil which he had done." 237 And then, after he has appeased the man he injured, the law goes on to say, "After this let him also go into the temple, to implore remission of the sins which he has committed, taking with him an irreproachable mediator, namely, that conviction of the soul which has delivered him from his incurable calamity, curing him of the disease which would cause death, and wholly changing and bringing him to good health." And it orders him to sacrifice a ram, and this victim is named expressly, as it is for the man who has offended in the matter of the holy things; 238 for the law treats an unintentional offence concerning holy things as equal in importance to an intentional sin against men; unless indeed we should say that this too is holy, since an oath is added to it, which, sworn in an unjust cause, it has corrected by a change for the better. 239 And we must note that the parts of the victim slain as a sin-offering that are placed on the altar are the same as those taken from the sacrifice for preservation, namely the lobe of the liver, and the fat, and the kidneys; for in a sense we may also speak of the man who repents as preserved, since he is cured of a disease of the soul, which is worse than the diseases of the body; 240 but the other parts of the animal are to be eaten in a different way, and the difference lies in three things: the place, the time and those who receive it. The place is the temple; the time is one day instead of two; and the persons who partake of it are the priests, and the male servants of the priests, but not the men who offer the sacrifice. 241 Therefore the law does not permit the sacrifice to be brought out of the temple, so that, if the man who repents has also committed some previous offence, he will not now be overwhelmed by envious and malicious men, with foolish dispositions and unbridled tongues, always lying in wait for reproach and false accusation; but it must be eaten in the sacred precincts, within which the purification has taken place. 242 And the law orders the priests to feast on what is offered in the sacrifice for many reasons; first of all, so that by this command it may honour the one who has offered the sacrifice, for the dignity of those who eat of the feast is an honour to those who provide it; secondly, so that they may believe more firmly that those who repent of their sins really do find God propitious to them, for he would never have invited his servants and ministers to share in such a banquet, if his forgiveness of those who provided it had not been complete; and thirdly, because no priest who is not perfect is permitted to take part in the sacred ceremonies, for they are rejected for the slightest blemish. 243 And God encourages those who have ceased to travel by the road of wickedness, as if they now, by means of the race of the priesthood, had received a pure purpose of life for the future, and had been sent out to obtain an equal share of honour with the priests. And it is for this reason that the victim sacrificed as a sin-offering is consumed in one day, because men ought to put off sinning, always slow and reluctant to approach it, but to do good with all possible haste and promptness. 244 But the sacrifices offered up for the sins of the high priest, or for those of the whole nation, are not prepared to be eaten at all, but are burnt to ashes, and, as has been said, the ashes are sacred; for no one is superior to the high priest or to the whole nation, or can, as a superior, intercede for them for the sins they have committed. 245 It is very natural, therefore, that the meat of this sacrifice is ordered to be consumed by fire, in imitation of the whole burnt offerings, and this in honour of those who offer it; not because the sacred judgments of God are given according to the rank of those who come before his tribunal, but because the offences committed by men of pre-eminent virtue and real holiness are counted as nearly akin in character to the good actions of others; 246 for as a deep and fertile soil, even if it sometimes yields a bad crop, still bears more and better fruit than one which is naturally unproductive, so in the same way the barrenness of virtuous and God-fearing men is fuller of excellence than the best actions that ordinary people perform by chance; for these men cannot bring themselves to do anything blameworthy on purpose. 247 Having given these commandments about every kind of sacrifice in turn, namely, about the burnt offering, and the sacrifice for preservation, and the sin-offering, he adds another kind of offering common to all three, in order to show that they are friendly and connected with one another; and this combination of them all is called the great vow; 248 and we must now go on to say why it received this name. When people offer first fruits from any portion of their possessions, wheat, or barley, or oil, or wine, or the best of their fruits, or the firstborn males of their flocks and herds, they actually dedicate the first fruits of what is clean, but pay a price for the value of what is unclean; and when they no longer have any materials left with which to display their piety, they then consecrate and offer up themselves, displaying an unspeakable holiness, and a most superabundant excess of love for God, which is why such a dedication is fittingly called the great vow; for every man is his own greatest and most valuable possession, and now he gives up and abandons even this. 249 And when a man has made this vow the law gives him the following commands: first of all, to touch no unmixed wine, nor any wine that is made of the grape, nor to drink any other strong drink at all that would destroy his reason, since during this period his reason too is dedicated to God; for everything that could lead to drunkenness is forbidden to the priests who serve in the sacred ministrations, who are commanded to quench their thirst with water; 250 in the second place they are commanded not to show their heads, so giving a visible sign to all who see them that they are not debasing the pure coinage of their vow; thirdly, they are commanded to keep their body pure and undefiled, so that they do not even approach their parents or their brothers if they are dead; for piety overcomes the natural goodwill and affection towards their relations and dearest friends, and it is both honourable and expedient for piety always to prevail. 251 But when the appointed time for their release from this vow has arrived, the law then commands the man who has dedicated himself to bring three animals to obtain his release from his vow, a male lamb, and a female lamb, and a ram; the first for a burnt offering, the second for a sin-offering, and the ram as a sacrifice for preservation; 252 for in some sense the man who has made such a vow resembles all these things. He resembles the sacrifice of the entire burnt offering, because he is dedicating to his preserver not only a portion of the first fruits of other things, but also of his own self. And he resembles the sin-offering, because he is a man; for no one born, however perfect, can wholly avoid committing sin. He resembles also the offering for preservation, because he has recorded that God the saviour is the cause of his preservation, and does not ascribe it to any physician or to any power of his own; for those who have themselves been born, and are liable to infirmity, are not able to give health even to themselves. Medicine does not benefit everyone, nor does it always benefit the same persons; and there are even times when it does them great harm, since its power depends on different things, both on the thing itself and on the people who use it. 253 And I am greatly impressed by the fact that of the three animals offered up in these different sacrifices, none is of a different species from the others, but all are of the same kind, a ram, and a male lamb, and a female lamb; for God wishes, as I said a little while ago, by this commandment to point out that the three kinds of sacrifice are closely connected with and akin to one another; because the man who repents is saved, and the man who is saved from the diseases of the soul repents, and because both of them eagerly hasten to attain an entire and perfect disposition, of which the sacrifice of the whole burnt-offering is a symbol. 254 But since the man has begun to offer himself as his first fruits, and since it is not lawful for the sacred altar to be polluted with human blood, and yet it was absolutely necessary for a portion to be consecrated, he has taken care to take a portion whose removal would cause neither pain nor defilement; for he has cut off the hair of the head, the superfluities of the natural body, as if they were the superfluous branches of a tree, and he has committed them to the fire on which the meat of the sacrifice offered for preservation will be suitably prepared, so that some portion of the man who has made the vow, though it is not lawful to place it on the altar, may still at least be combined with the sacrifice, burning as fuel for the sacred flame. 255 These sacred fires are common to all the rest of the people. But it was fitting for the priests also to offer up something on the altar as first fruits, and not to think that the services and sacred ministrations to which they have been appointed have exempted them from such duties. And the first fruits suitable for the priests to offer do not come from anything containing blood, but from the purest portion of human food; 256 for the fine wheaten flour is their continual offering; a tenth part of a sacred measure every day; half of which is offered up in the morning, and half in the evening, having been soaked in oil, so that no portion of it can be left for food; for God commands that all the sacrifices of the priests shall be wholly burnt, and that no portion of them shall be allotted for food. Now that we have discussed, to the best of our ability, the matters relating to the sacrifices, we will go on in due order to speak about those who offer them. 257 The law wants a person who brings a sacrifice to be pure, both in body and soul; --pure in soul from all passions, and diseases, and vices, which can be displayed either in word or deed; and pure in body from everything by which a body is usually defiled. 258 And it has appointed a burning purification for both these things; for the soul, by means of the animals which are duly fit for sacrifice; and for the body, by ablutions and sprinklings; about which we will speak shortly; for it is fitting to give pre-eminence in honour in every respect to the superior and dominant part of the qualities existing in us, namely, to the soul. 259 How, then, is the soul purified? "Look," says the law, "take care that the victim which you bring to the altar is perfect, wholly free of any kind of blemish, selected from many because of its excellence, by the uncorrupted judgments of the priests, and by their most acute sight, and by their continual practice gained from examining faultless victims. For if you do not see this with your eyes more than with your reason, you will not wash off all the imperfections and stains which you have imprinted on your whole life, partly as a result of unexpected events, and partly through deliberate purpose; 260 for you will find that this extreme accuracy in examining the animals figuratively signifies the improvement of your own disposition and conduct; for the law was not established for the sake of irrational animals, but for the sake of those who have intellect and reason." So the real object of care is not the condition of the victims sacrificed, that they may have no blemish, but the condition of the sacrificers, that they may not be defiled by any unlawful passion. 261 The body, then, as I have already said, he purifies with ablutions and sprinklings, and does not allow a person who has once washed and sprinkled himself to enter the sacred precincts at once, but tells him to wait outside for seven days, and to be sprinkled twice, on the third day and on the seventh day; and after this it commands him to wash himself once more, and then it allows him to enter the sacred precincts and to share in the sacred ministrations. 262 We must consider what great prudence and philosophical wisdom is displayed in this law; for nearly everyone else is sprinkled with pure water, generally in the sea, some in rivers, and others again in vessels of water which they draw from fountains. But Moses, having previously prepared ashes which had been left from the sacred fire (and how will be explained later), ordained that one should take some of them and put them in a vessel, then pour water on them, and then dip some branches of hyssop in the mixture of ashes and water and sprinkle it over those who were to be purified. 263 And the reason for this procedure is very probably this:--The lawgiver's intention is that those who approach the service of the living God should first of all know themselves and their own essence. For how can the man who does not know himself ever comprehend the supreme and all-excelling power of God? 264 Therefore, our bodily essence is earth and water, of which he reminds us by this purification, believing that this result--namely, to know one's self, and also to know what one is made of, what utterly valueless substances, mere ashes and water--is in itself the most beneficial purification. 265 For when a man is aware of this he will at once reject all vain and treacherous conceit, and, discarding haughtiness and pride, he will seek to become pleasing to God, and to win over the merciful power of the Being who hates arrogance. For it is beautifully said somewhere, "He who displays overproud words or actions offends not men alone but God also, the maker of equality and of everything else that is most excellent." 266 Therefore, to us who are amazed and stirred by this sprinkling, the very elements themselves, earth and water, can almost be said to speak distinct words, and to say plainly, we are the essence of your bodies; nature having mixed us together, divine art has fashioned us into the figure of a man. You were made of us when you were born, and you will be dissolved into us again when you die; for nothing by its nature is destroyed so as to become non-existent; but the end brings it back to those elements from which its beginnings come. 267 But now we must fulfil our promise and explain why this use of ashes is particularly fitting. For they are not merely the ashes of wood consumed by fire, but also of an animal particularly suited for this kind of purification. 268 For the law orders that a red heifer, which has never been brought under the yoke, shall be sacrificed outside the city, and that the high priest, taking some of the blood, shall sprinkle all the things in front of the temple with it seven times, and then shall burn the whole animal, with its hide and flesh, and with the belly full of all the entrails. And when the flame begins to pour down, it commands that three things be thrown into the middle of it, a stick of cedar, a stick of hyssop, and a bunch of saffron; and then, when the fire is wholly extinguished, it commands that a man who is clean shall collect the ashes, and shall again place them outside the city in some open place. 269 And we have accurately explained in another treatise, in which we discussed the allegories, what figurative meanings he conceals as symbols under these orders. It is necessary, therefore, for those who are about to go into the temple to partake of the sacrifice, to be cleansed in body and in soul, and in soul before body. For the soul is the mistress and the queen, and is superior in everything, since it has received a more divine nature. And the things which cleanse the mind are wisdom and the doctrines of wisdom, which lead to the contemplation of the world and the things in it; and the sacred chorus of the rest of the virtues, and honourable and very praiseworthy actions in accordance with the virtues. 270 Therefore let the man who is adorned with these qualities go in cheerful confidence to the temple that most truly belongs to him, the most excellent of all abodes, to offer himself as a sacrifice. But let the one in whom covetousness and a desire for unjust things dwell and display themselves cover his head and be silent, checking his shameless folly and his excessive impudence, in those matters in which caution is profitable; for the temple of the truly living God may not be approached by unholy sacrifices. 271 I would say to such a man: My good man, God is not pleased even if a man brings hecatombs to his altar; for he possesses all things as his own, and needs nothing. But he delights in minds which love God, and in men who practise holiness, from whom he gladly receives cakes and barley, and the very cheapest things, as if they were the most valuable, in preference to the most costly. 272 And even if they bring nothing else, when they bring themselves, the most perfect completeness of virtue and excellence, they are offering the most excellent of all sacrifices, honouring God, their Benefactor and Saviour, with hymns and thanksgivings; the former uttered by the organs of the voice, and the latter without the agency of the tongue or mouth, the worshippers making their exclamations and invocations with their soul alone, perceptible only by the intellect, and only one ear hears them, namely, the ear of the Deity. For human hearing does not reach far enough to perceive them. 273 And that this statement is true, and is not mine but nature's, is testified to some degree by the evident nature of the thing itself, which offers a manifest proof that no one can deny unless they cling to credulity out of a contentious disposition. It is also testified by the law, which commands two altars to be prepared, differing in the materials they are made of, the places where they are erected, and the purposes for which they are used; 274 for one is made of stones, carefully selected so as to fit one another, and unhewn, and it is erected in the open air, near the steps of the temple, and it is used for sacrificing victims that have blood in them. And the other is made of gold, and is erected in the inner part of the temple, within the first veil, and may not be seen by any human being except the priests who keep themselves pure, and it is used for offering incense; 275 from which it is plain that God regards even the smallest offering of frankincense by a holy man as more valuable than ten thousand beasts sacrificed by someone who is not thoroughly virtuous. For, I imagine, just as gold is more valuable than stones, and the things within the inner temple are holier than those outside, so in the same proportion the gratitude displayed by offerings of incense is superior to the gratitude displayed by the sacrifice of victims full of blood, 276 and so the altar of incense is honoured not only in the costliness of its materials, the manner of its construction and its location, but also in the fact that every day, before anything else, it serves the thanksgivings offered to God. For the law does not permit the priest to offer the sacrifice of the whole burnt offering outside before he has offered incense within at the earliest dawn. 277 And this command symbolizes nothing other than the fact that in the eyes of God what is valued is not the number of things sacrificed, but the purity of the rational spirit of the sacrificer.⁠c Unless, indeed, one can suppose that a judge who is anxious to pronounce a holy judgment will never receive gifts from any of those whose conduct comes before his tribunal, or that, if he does receive such presents, he will be liable to an accusation of corruption; and that a good man will not receive gifts from a wicked person, not even if he is poor and the other rich, and he himself perhaps actually needs what he would receive; and yet that God can be corrupted by bribes, God who is wholly sufficient for himself and has no need of anything created, and who, being himself the first and most perfect good thing, the everlasting fountain of wisdom, and justice, and of every virtue, rejects the gifts of the wicked. 278 And is the man who would offer such gifts not the most shameless of all men, if he offers a portion of the things which he has acquired by doing injury, or by rapine, or by false denial, or by robbery, to God as if he were a partner in his wickedness? Most miserable of all men! I would say to such a man, "You must be expecting one of two things. Either that you will be able to pass undetected, or that you will be discovered. 279 Therefore, if you expect to be able to pass undetected, you are ignorant of the power of God, by which he sees and hears everything at once. And if you think that you will be discovered, you are most audacious (when you ought rather to try to conceal the wicked actions you have committed) in bringing to light specimens of all your iniquitous deeds, and giving yourself airs, and dividing the fruits of them with God, bringing him unholy first fruits. And have you not considered that the law does not admit lawlessness, just as the light of the sun does not admit darkness; but God is the archetypal model of all laws, and the sun that can be perceived only by the intellect is the archetypal model of the sun visible to the senses, bringing forth visible light from its invisible fountains to give to whoever sees." Moreover, there are other commandments relating to the altar. 280 This injunction too is very admirably and properly set down in the sacred tablets of the law: the wages of a harlot are not to be received into the temple, since she has earned them by selling her beauty, having chosen a most infamous life for the sake of shameful gain; 281 but if the gifts which proceed from a woman who has lived as a concubine are unholy, how can the gifts that come from a soul defiled in the same way be any different, which has voluntarily abandoned itself to shame and to the lowest infamy, to drunkenness and gluttony, and covetousness and ambition, and love of pleasure, and to innumerable other kinds of passions, and diseases, and wickednesses? For I do not know what length of time could ever be enough to efface those defilements. 282 Indeed, time has very often put an end to a harlot's occupation, since, when women have outlived their beauty, no one approaches them any longer, their prime having withered away like the bloom of some flowers; and what length of time can ever transform the harlotry of the soul which from its youth has been trained in early and habitual incontinence, so as to bring it into good order? No time could do this, but God alone, to whom all things are possible, even those which among us are impossible. 283 Accordingly, the man who is about to offer a sacrifice ought to examine and see, not whether the victim is without blemish, but whether his mind is sound, and entire, and perfect. Let him likewise investigate the reasons for which he is about to offer the sacrifice; for it must be as an expression of thankfulness for kindnesses which have been shown to him, or else of supplication for the permanence of his present blessings, or for the acquisition of some future good, or else to avert some evil either present or expected; and for all these purposes he should labour to bring his reason into good health and sanity; 284 for if he is giving thanks for benefits conferred upon him, he must take care not to behave like an ungrateful man by becoming wicked, for benefits are conferred on the virtuous man; or if his object is to secure the permanence of his present prosperity and happiness, and to be able to look forward to the same in the future, he must still show himself worthy of his good fortune, and behave virtuously; or if he is asking to escape from evils, he must not commit actions that deserve correction and punishment. 285 The law says, "A fire shall be kept burning on the altar which shall never be extinguished, but shall be kept burning for ever." Rightly and fittingly, I think; for, since the graces of God which we now enjoy day and night are everlasting, and unceasing, and uninterrupted, and since the symbol of gratitude is the sacred flame, it is fitting for it to be kindled, and to remain unextinguished for ever. 286 And perhaps by this command the lawgiver intended to connect the old with the new sacrifices, and to unite the two by the duration and presence of the same fire by which all such sacrifices are consecrated, to demonstrate that all perfect sacrifices consisted in thanksgiving, although, depending on the variety of occasions on which they are offered, more victims are offered at one time and fewer at another. 287 But some are verbal symbols of things perceptible only by the intellect, and the mystical meaning which is concealed beneath them must be investigated according to the rules of allegory by those who are eager for truth. The altar of God is the grateful soul of the wise man, composed of perfect numbers, undivided and indivisible; for no part of virtue is useless. 288 On this soul the sacred fire is continually kept burning, preserved with care and unextinguishable. But the light of the mind is wisdom; just as, on the contrary, the darkness of the soul is folly. For as the light discernible by the outward senses is to the eyes, so knowledge is to reason in the contemplation of incorporeal things discernible only by the intellect, whose light is continually shining and never extinguished. 289 After this the law says, "On every offering you shall add salt." By this injunction, as I have said before, he figuratively implies everlasting duration; for salt is suited to preserving bodies, ranking second, inferior only to the soul; for as the soul is the cause of bodies not being destroyed, so too is salt, which keeps them together in the greatest degree, and to some extent makes them immortal. 290 This is why the law calls the altar thysiastērion, giving it a name of its own, of special honour, from its preserving (diatēreō) the sacrifices (tas thysias) in a proper manner, even though the flesh is consumed by fire; so as to give the clearest possible proof that God does not regard the victims as the real sacrifice, but the mind and willingness of the one who offers them, so that the durability and firmness of the altar may be ensured by virtue. 291 Moreover, it also ordains that every sacrifice shall be offered up without any leaven or honey, not thinking it fitting for either of these things to be brought to the altar. Honey, perhaps, because the bee that collects it is not a clean animal, since it is born, as the story goes, from the putrefaction and corruption of dead oxen, just as wasps spring from the bodies of horses. 292 Or else this may be forbidden as a figurative declaration that all superfluous pleasure is unholy, since it makes the things that are eaten sweet to the taste, but later inflicts bitter pains that are hard to cure, by which the soul must of necessity be agitated and thrown into confusion, unable to settle on any sure resting place. 293 And leaven is forbidden on account of the rising which it causes; this prohibition too has a figurative meaning, intimating that no one who comes to the altar should ever allow himself to be elated and puffed up by insolence; but that such people should keep their eyes fixed on the greatness of God, and so obtain a proper conception of the weakness of all created beings, even if they are very prosperous; and that, by cherishing correct notions, they may correct the arrogant loftiness of their minds, and discard all treacherous self-conceit. 294 But if the Creator and maker of the universe, who has no need of anything which he has created, not looking at the exceeding greatness of his own power and at his own authority, but at your weakness, gives you a share of his own merciful power, supplying the deficiencies with which you are overwhelmed, how do you think you ought to behave towards men who are akin to you by nature, and who spring from the same elements as yourself, when you have brought nothing into the world, not even yourself? 295 For, my fine fellow, you came naked into the world, and you will leave it naked again, having received the interval between your birth and death as a loan from God; and during that time what ought you to do but take care to live in communion and harmony with your fellow creatures, studying equality, and humanity, and virtue, repudiating unequal, and unjust, and irreconcilable unsociable wickedness, which makes the animal that is by nature the gentlest of all, namely, man, a cruel and intractable monster? 296 Again, the law commands that candles shall be kept burning from evening until morning on the sacred candlesticks within the veil, for many reasons. One is that the holy places may be kept illuminated without any interruption after daylight ends, always kept free from any share in darkness, just as the stars themselves are, for they too, when the sun sets, show their own light, never forsaking the place which was originally appointed for them in the world. 297 Secondly, so that at night too a rite akin to and closely resembling the sacrifices by day may be performed to give pleasure to God, and that no time or occasion fit for offering thanksgiving may ever be left out, which is a duty most suitable and natural for night; for it is not improper to call the blaze of the most sacred light in the innermost shrine itself a sacrifice. 298 The third reason, which is of the very greatest importance, is this. Since we are not only well treated while we are awake, but also when we are asleep, since the mighty God gives sleep as a great assistance to the human race, for the benefit of both their bodies and souls, their bodies because it relieves them of the labours of the day, and their souls because it lightens them of all their cares and restores them to themselves after all the disorder and confusion caused by the outward senses, and then enables them to retire within and commune with themselves, the law has very properly thought fit to distinguish the acts of thanksgiving, so that sacrifices may be made on behalf of those who are awake by means of the victims which are offered, and on behalf of those who are asleep, and of those who are benefited by sleep, by the lighting of the sacred candles. 299 These, then, and others like them, are the commandments established to promote piety, by express injunctions and prohibitions. But those that rest on philosophical suggestions and recommendations must be explained in this way; for the lawgiver, in effect, says, "Mind of man! God demands nothing of you which is either oppressive, or uncertain, or difficult, but only things that are very simple and easy. 300 And these are: to love him as your benefactor; and if you fail to do so, at least to fear him as your Governor and Lord, and to enter zealously upon all the paths which may please him, and to serve him not carelessly or superficially, but with one's whole soul thoroughly filled as it ought to be with God-loving sentiments, and to cling to his commandments, and to honour justice, by all of which the world itself continues constantly in the same nature without ever changing, and all other things which are contained in the world have a tendency towards improvement, such as the sun and the moon, and the whole multitude of the rest of the stars, and the entire heaven. But the mountains of the earth are elevated to the greatest possible height, and the open country, like other fusible essences, is spread over a body of wide extent, and the sea also changes so as to become united with sweet waters, and the rains also become in their turn similar to the sea. So each of those things is still fixed within the same boundaries within which it was originally created, when it was first set in regular order. But you shall be better by living quite irreproachably. 301 And which of all these things is either distressing or laborious? You are not compelled to cross unnavigable seas; or, when tossed about by the billows of midwinter and the force of contrary winds, to wander about the sea in every direction; or to travel on foot over rough and pathless byways, always dreading the haunts of robbers, or of the attacks of wild beasts; or to watch all night to protect your walls in the open air, while the enemy is lying in ambush for you, and threatening you with the very extremity of danger. But come, let us not bring up unpleasant topics in pleasant circumstances. We must use words of good omen when we speak of such advantageous matters. 302 The mind need only consent, and everything will be ready. Do you not know that both the heaven that is invisible to the outward senses and the heaven that is perceptible only to the intellect belong to God (the heaven of heavens, as we may call it); and again, that the earth and all that is in it belong to him, and the whole world, both the visible world and the invisible and incorporeal world, which is a model of the real heaven? 303 Nevertheless, out of the whole human race he selected, for their superior excellence, those who were truly men; and he elected them and thought them worthy of the highest possible honour, calling them to his own service, to that everlasting fountain of all that is good; from which he has showered down other virtues, and at the same time drawn out, for our enjoyment and to our greatest possible advantage, a drink that does more than nectar ever did, or at least no less, to make those who drink it immortal. 304 But those who have never banqueted on the labours of virtue are to be pitied and are altogether miserable; and those who have always been ignorant of the taste of moral excellence, when they could have feasted and luxuriated on justice and equality, have remained to the end the most miserable of all men. But these men are uncircumcised in their hearts, as the law expresses it, and because of the hardness of their hearts they are stubborn, resisting and restively breaking their traces; 305 whom the Lord reproves, saying, "Be circumcised as to your hard-heartedness;"⁠d that is, "eradicate the overbearing character of your dominant part, which the immoderate impulses of the passing hour have sown and caused to grow within you, and which folly, the wicked farmer of the soul, planted." 306 Again, it says, "Do not let your necks be stiff," that is to say, do not let your mind be unbending and self-willed, and do not let it take in that most blameworthy ignorance that comes of excessive perversity. Instead, let it cast off obstinacy and a sullen nature as an enemy, and change until it becomes gentle and ready to obey the laws of nature. 307 Do you not see that the greatest and most important of all the powers of the living God are his beneficent power and his punishing power? And his beneficent power is called God, since it is by means of this that he made and arranged the universe. And the other, the punishing power, is called Lord, and his sovereignty over the universe depends on it. And God is the God not only of men but also of gods; and he is mighty, being truly strong and truly powerful. 308 Yet, great as he is in excellence and in power, he feels pity and compassion for all who are most completely sunk in want and distress, not considering it beneath his dignity to be the judge in the causes of proselytes, and orphans, and widows, and disregarding kings and tyrants, and men in high command, and for this reason honouring with precedence the humility of the men mentioned above, I mean the proselytes. 309 These men have forsaken their country and the national customs they were brought up in, customs that were, however, full of the inventions of falsehood and pride, and, becoming genuine lovers of truth, have come over to piety; and having become, in all worthiness, suppliants and servants of the true and living God, they very properly receive the precedence they have deserved, finding the reward of their flight to God in the help they now receive from him. 310 And as for orphans and widows, since they have been deprived of their natural protectors, the orphans having lost their parents and the widows their husbands, they have no refuge at all to flee to and no help to hope for from man, being utterly destitute; and for this reason they are not deprived of the greatest hope of all, the hope of relief from God, who, because of his merciful character, does not refuse to provide for and care for people so wholly desolate. 311 "Let God alone, then," says the law, "be your boast, and your greater glory." And do not pride yourself either on your wealth, or on your glory, or on the beauty of your person, or on your strength, or on anything else of the kind that foolish, empty-headed people are apt to be elated by, considering that, in the first place, these things have no connection at all with the nature of good, and secondly, that they are liable to rapid changes, fading away, as it were, before they have had time to flourish for long. 312 And let us cling to the custom of addressing our supplications to him, and let us not, after we have subdued our enemies, imitate their impiety in the conduct they imagine to be pious, burning their sons and their daughters to their gods; not, indeed, that all the barbarians make a custom of burning their children. 313 For they have not become so utterly savage by nature as to bring themselves, in time of peace, to treat their nearest and dearest relatives as they would scarcely treat their irreconcilable enemies in time of war. But what they do in reality is inflame and corrupt the souls of their own children from the very moment they are out of swaddling clothes, not imprinting on their minds, while they are still tender, any true opinions about the one only and truly living God. So let us not be overcome by their good fortune, nor fall down before it and yield to it, as if they had prevailed because of their piety. 314 For present prosperity is given to many people as a snare, being only a bait to be followed by excessive and incurable evils. And it is very likely that even unworthy men may be allowed to succeed, not for their own sakes, but so that we who act impiously may be grieved and pained all the more intensely: we who, though born in a God-fearing city, brought up under laws that would instil every virtue in men, and instructed from our earliest youth in all the pursuits most honourable to men, neglect them all and cling only to the practices that deserve neglect, treating all good things as matters for amusement and regarding things fit only for sport as seriously good. 315 And if anyone, assuming the name and appearance of a prophet and appearing to be inspired and possessed by the Holy Spirit, were to seek to lead the people to the worship of the gods recognised in the various cities, the people should not listen to him, deceived by the name of prophet. For such a man is an impostor and not a prophet, since he has invented speeches and oracles full of falsehood, 316 even though a brother, or a son, or a daughter, or a wife, or a steward, or a firm friend, or anyone else who seems well-intentioned towards you should try to lead you down the same path, urging you to make merry with the crowd, and to approach the same temples and to adopt the same sacrifices; that person should still be punished as a public and common enemy, and we should think little of any relationship, and should report his urgings to all the lovers of piety, who would hasten with all speed and without any delay to inflict punishment on the impious man, judging it a virtuous act to be zealous for his execution. 317 For we should acknowledge only one relationship, and one bond of friendship, namely, a mutual zeal for the service of God, and a desire to say and do everything that is consistent with piety. And the bonds called blood relationships, which come from one's ancestors, and the connections that come from intermarriage and other similar causes, must all be renounced if they do not all hasten to the same end, namely, the honour of God, which is the one indissoluble bond of all united goodwill. For such men will lay claim to a more venerable and sacred kind of relationship; 318 and the law confirms what I say where it says that those who do what is pleasing to nature and virtuous are the sons of God, for it says, "You are the sons of the Lord your God," since you will be thought worthy of his providence and care on your behalf, as though he were your father. And that care surpasses the care shown by a man's own parents as far, I imagine, as the being who takes it surpasses them. 319 Besides this, the lawgiver entirely removes from his sacred code of laws all ordinances concerning initiations, and mysteries, and all such trickery and buffoonery; not wanting men brought up under the constitution he was giving to busy themselves with such matters, and, relying on mystic enchantments, to be led to neglect the truth and to pursue things that very naturally have night and darkness as their portion, passing over the things which are worthy of light and of day. Therefore let none of the disciples or followers of Moses either be initiated himself into any mysterious rites of worship or initiate anyone else; for both learning and teaching such initiations is an impiety of no slight order. 320 For if these things are virtuous, and honourable, and profitable, why do you initiates shut yourselves up in dense darkness, and limit your benefits to just three or four men, when you could bring the advantages you have to bestow into the middle of the market place, and benefit all men; so that everyone might share freely in a better and more fortunate life? 321 for envy is never found together with virtue. Let those who do harmful things be put to shame, and let them seek hiding places and recesses in the earth and deep darkness and hide themselves there, concealing their lawless iniquity from sight so that no one may see it. But let those who do what serves the common advantage have freedom of speech, and let them go by day through the middle of the market place where they will meet the largest crowds, to display their own way of life in the clear sunlight, and to do good to the assembled multitudes through the chief of the outward senses, letting them see the sights that are most delightful and most impressive, and letting them hear and feast on wholesome speeches that regularly delight the minds even of those who are not utterly illiterate. 322 Do you not see that nature has concealed none of her works that are deservedly celebrated and honourable, but has openly displayed the stars and the whole of heaven, to give pleasure to the sight, and to excite a desire for philosophy, and she also displays her seas, and fountains, and rivers, and the excellencies of the atmosphere, and the beautiful adaptation of the winds to the various seasons of the year, and of plants, and of animals, and, moreover, the innumerable species of fruits, for the use and enjoyment of men? 323 Would it not have been right, then, for you to follow her example and design and give those who are worthy everything necessary for their advantage? But as it is, very often no good men at all are initiated by them, while robbers and wreckers and bands of debauched and polluted women sometimes are, once they have paid enough money to those who initiate them and reveal to them the mysteries they call sacred. But let all such men be driven away and expelled from that city, and denied any share in that constitution in which honour and truth are reverenced for their own sake. That is enough on this subject. 324 But the law, being above all an interpreter of equal communion and courteous humanity among men, has preserved the honour and dignity of each virtue; not permitting anyone incurably sunk in vice to take refuge in them, but rejecting all such people and driving them far away. 325 So, since the law knew that a considerable number of wicked men often mingle in these assemblies and escape notice because of the crowds gathered there, he prevents this from happening here by excluding all who are unworthy from the sacred assembly in advance, beginning with those afflicted with the disease of effeminacy, men-women, who, having adulterated the coinage of nature, willingly let themselves be driven into the appearance and treatment of licentious women. He also banishes all those who have suffered any injury or mutilation in their most important members, and those who, seeking to preserve the flower of their beauty so that it does not quickly wither away, have reshaped the stamp of their natural manly appearance into the likeness of a woman. 326 The law also excludes not only all harlots, but also those who, born of a harlot, carry about with them the disgrace of their mother, because their original birth and origin have been adulterated. 327 For this passage (if any passage at all in the whole of scripture does) lends itself to an allegorical interpretation; for impious and unholy men are not of one kind only, but of many different kinds. For some people assert that the incorporeal ideas are only an empty name, with no share in any real fact, removing the most important of all essences from the list of existing things, though it is in fact the archetypal model of all the distinctive qualities of essence, according to which each thing is assigned to its proper species and limited to its proper dimensions. 328 The sacred pillars of the law call all these men broken; for the injury that term implies leaves a man destitute of all distinctive quality and species, and what is broken in this way is, strictly speaking, nothing but mere shapeless material. Thus, the doctrine which takes away species throws everything into confusion, and moreover brings back the lack of proper form that existed before the elements were brought into proper order. 329 And what can be more absurd than this? For it is out of that essence that God created everything, without, indeed, touching it himself, for it was not lawful for the all-wise and all-blessed God to touch materials which were all misshapen and confused, but he created them through his incorporeal powers, whose proper name is "ideas," and he exerted them so that every genus received its proper form. But this opinion has created great irregularity and confusion. For when it takes away the things through which the distinctive qualities exist, it at the same time takes away the distinctive qualities themselves. 330 But others, as if engaged in a contest of wickedness and eager to carry off the prizes of victory, go beyond everyone else in impiety, adding to their denial of the ideas a denial of the being of God as well, as if he had no real existence but were only spoken of because it benefits men. Others again, out of fear of the Being who appears to be present everywhere and to see everything, are barren of wisdom but devoted to upholding the greatest of all wickednesses, namely impiety. 331 There is also a third class, who have taken the opposite path, leading a multitude of men and women, old and young, filling the world with arguments in favour of a multiplicity of rulers, so as by this means to eradicate all notions of the one and truly living God from the minds of men. 332 These are the ones the law symbolically calls the sons of a harlot.⁠e For just as mothers who are harlots do not know who the real father of their children is, and cannot record him accurately, but have many men, or I might almost say all men, as their lovers and associates, so it is with those who are ignorant of the one true God. For, inventing a great number of beings whom they falsely call gods, they are blind to the most important of all existing things, which they ought to have thoroughly learnt from their earliest childhood, if not as the only thing, then at least as the first and greatest of all things; for what could be more honourable to learn than the knowledge of the true and living God? 333 The law also excludes a fourth class, and a fifth, both hastening to the same end, but not with the same intention; for, both being followers of the same great evil, self-will, they have divided the whole soul between them like a common inheritance, the soul consisting of a rational and an irrational part; and the one class has appropriated the rational part, which is the mind, and the other the irrational part, which is in turn subdivided into the outward senses; 334 so the champions of the mind attribute to it predominance and supreme authority in all human affairs, and affirm that it is able to preserve all past things in its recollection, and to comprehend all present things with great vigour, and to divine the future by probable conjecture; 335 for this is the faculty that sowed and planted all the fertile soil of the earth, in both the mountains and the plains, and that invented agriculture, the most useful of all sciences for human life. This is also the faculty that constructed ships and, by ingenious design, made dry land navigable with an ingenuity beyond all description; 336 this too invented letters, and music, and the whole range of encyclical instruction, and brought them to perfection. This is also the parent of philosophy, the greatest of all good things, and through its different parts it has benefited human life, leading through its logical branch to an infallible interpretation of difficulties, through its moral branch to the correction of the manners and dispositions of men, and through its physical branch to the knowledge of the heaven and the world. And they have also collected many other praises of the mind and dwell on them, always referring back to the kinds already mentioned, which we do not have the leisure to deal with at present. 337 But the champions of the outward senses also sing their praises with great energy and grandeur, listing in their speeches all the needs the senses supply, and they say that two of them, smell and taste, are the causes of living, and two, seeing and hearing, are the causes of living well; 338 thus, by means of taste the nourishment derived from food is conveyed into the system, and by means of the nostrils the air on which every living thing depends; for this also is a continual food, which nourishes and preserves men, not only while they are awake, but also while they are asleep. And the proof of this is clear: if the passage of the breath is obstructed for even the shortest time, so completely as to cut off the air that nature intends to be conveyed into the system from outside, death will necessarily and inevitably follow. 339 Again, of the more philosophical outward senses, through which living well is produced, the power of sight sees the light, the most beautiful of all essences, and through the light it sees all other things, the sun, the moon, the stars, the heaven, the earth, the sea, the innumerable varieties of plants and animals, and in short all bodies, and shapes, and odours, and magnitudes of every kind, the sight of which has given birth to excessive wisdom, and has bred a great desire for knowledge. 340 And even leaving aside the advantage derived from these things, sight also gives us the greatest benefits by enabling us to distinguish one's relatives, strangers and friends, and to avoid what is harmful and choose what is beneficial. Each of the other parts of the body has been created for appropriate uses, which are of great importance, as, for instance, the feet were made for walking, and for all the other uses to which the legs can be applied; the hands were created for doing, giving or taking anything; and the eyes, as a sort of universal good, are the reason the hands and feet and all the other parts of the body are able to act or move rightly; 341 and the evidence of those who have suffered any mutilation in these members proves this beyond all error, for they cannot truly be said to have either feet or hands, and the reality of their condition proves the correctness of their name, which, they say, the people of old gave them less as a reproach than out of compassion, calling them impotent in surprise at what they saw. 342 Again, hearing is the sense by which melodies and rhythm, and all parts and divisions of music are distinguished; for song and speech are salutary and wholesome medicines, the one charming the passions and the inharmonious qualities within us by its rhythm, and our unmelodious qualities by its melodies, and bridling our immoderate vehemence by its fixed measures; 343 and each of its parts is various and multiform, as the musicians and poets, whom we must believe, testify; and speech, checking and cutting short all the impulses which lead to wickedness, and healing those who are under the dominion of folly and misery, and strengthening those who are inclined to give way through cowardice, and subduing those who resist more obstinately, thus becomes the cause of the greatest advantages. 344 The advocates of the mind and of the outward senses, having put these arguments together, make gods of both of them, the one party deifying the former and the other the latter; both classes out of their self-will and self-conceit forgetting the truly living God. So the lawgiver very naturally excludes them all from the sacred assembly, calling those who would take away the ideas, broken in the stones, and those too who are utterly atheistic, to whom he has given the appropriate name of eunuchs; and those who teach the opposite system of theogony, whom he calls the sons of a harlot; and besides all these classes he also excludes the self-willed and self-conceited, some of whom have deified reason, and others have made a god of each of the outward senses. For all these men are hastening to the same end, even though they are not all driven by the same intentions. 345 But we, the followers and disciples of the prophet Moses, will never abandon our investigation into the nature of the true God; regarding the knowledge of him as the true end of happiness; and thinking that the true everlasting life, as the law says, is to live obeying and worshipping God; and in this precept it teaches us a most important and philosophical lesson, for in truth those who are atheists are dead in their souls, but those who are marshalled in the ranks of the true living God, as his servants, enjoy an everlasting life.