ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM

 I. (1) And the Lord said to Abraham, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house to a land which I will show thee and I

 II. (7) That he means by Abraham's country the body, and by his kindred the outward senses, and by his father's house uttered speech, we have now show

 III. (13) When therefore the mind begins to become acquainted with itself, and to dwell among the speculations which come under the province of the in

 IV. (17) Accordingly, the sacred scriptures command the bones of Joseph--I mean by this the only parts of such a soul as were left behind, being speci

 V. Which he who sees, marvelling at (and indeed it was Enough[Ge 42:18.] to cause astonishment), says, It is a great thing for me if my son Joseph is

 VI. (26) And why do we wonder if he exhorts the man who is led away by the force of unreasonable passions, neither to yield, nor to allow himself to b

 VII. (31) How then should any good thing be wanting when the all-accomplishing God is at all times present with his graces, which are his virgin daugh

 VIII. (36) That then which is shown is that thing so worthy of being beheld, so worthy of being contemplated, so worthy of being beloved, the perfect

 IX. (43) And Moses speaks very cautiously, inasmuch as he defines not the present time but the future in the promise which he records, when he says,

 X. (53) Therefore, after having left all mortal things, God, as I have said before, gives, as his first gift to the soul, an exhibition and an opportu

 XI. But who are they who are worthy to obtain such a mercy as this? It is plain that they are all lovers of wisdom and knowledge (58) for these are t

 XII. (64) For, says Moses, you shall not eat those animals which have a multitude of feet, being numbered among all the reptiles that are upon the

 XIII. (70) There have now been two gifts of God already mentioned: the hope of a life devoted to contemplation, and an improvement in good things in r

 XIV. (76) For this reason also the allaccomplished Moss deprecates coming to a consideration of reasonable looking and plausible arguments, from the t

 XV. (80) At all events when the conceptions are at all indistinct and ambiguous, speech is the treading as it were on empty air, and often stumbles an

 XVI. (86) What then is the fourth gift? The having a great name, for God says, I will magnify thy Name [Ge 12:2.] and the meaning of this, as it app

 XVII. (95) I also admire Leah, that woman endued with all virtue, who, at the birth of Asher, who is the symbol of that bastard wealth, which is perce

 XVIII. (101) On this account also the selfinstructed Isaac prays to the lover of wisdom, that he may be able to comprehend both those good things whic

 XIX. (106) There is, also, a fifth gift, which consists only in the bare fact of existence and it is mentioned after all the previous ones, not becau

 XX. (109) These are the good things which are given to him who is about to be wise. But let us now examine what God, for the sake of the wise man, bes

 XXI. (118) These, then, are the things which, he says, happen in the first instance to others on account of the good man, when they seek to load him w

 XXII. (124) Let us therefore pray that the mind may be in the soul like a pillar in a house, and, in like manner, that the just man may be firmly esta

 XXIII. (127) We have now, then, said enough about gifts which God is accustomed to bestow on those who are to become perfect, and through the medium o

 XXIV. (132) And he also, with a wish further to excite an irresistible desire of what is good, enjoins one to cleave to it for he says, Thou shalt f

 XXV. (139) Since, then, these things are in this state, the mind, when it is rendered perfect, will pay its proper tribute to the God who causes perfe

 XXVI. (143) This is the end of the path of those who follow the arguments and injunctions contained in the law, and who walk in the way which God lead

 XXVII. (148) We must also inquire what the meaning of the expression, He went with Lot,[Ge 12:4.] is. Now, the name Lot, being interpreted, means d

 XXVIII. And it is with particular beauty and propriety that he calls the soul of the wicked man multitude: for it is truly a company which has been co

 XXIX. (158) Some persons then repudiate this mixed and rough multitude, and raise a wall of fortification to keep it from them, rejoicing only in the

 XXX. (164) Accordingly, as I have already said, the lovers of wisdom will raise a wall of exclusion against the man who, like a drone, has resolved to

 XXXI. (168) But whoever is raised on high to such a sublime elevation will never any more allow any of the portions of his soul to dwell below among m

 XXXII. (176) And Abraham, says Moses, was seventy-five years of age, when he departed out of Charren. Now concerning the number of seventy-five ye

 XXXIII. (184) These things then having been now said for the purpose of overturning the opinion of the Chaldeans he thinks that it is desirable to le

 XXXIV. (187) Abandoning therefore your superfluous anxiety to investigate the things of heaven, dwell, as I said just now within yourselves, forsaking

 XXXV. (192) Having then in this manner learnt to accomplish the abandonment of mortal things, you shall become instructed in the proper doctrines resp

 XXXVI. (196) On which account also that disposition which is ranked in the highest class by God, by name Samuel, does not explain the just precepts of

 XXXVII. (203) This number, therefore, as I have said before, is familiar to Moses, but the number of the five outward senses is familiar to him who em

 XXXVIII. (208) I very much admire Rebecca, who is patience, because she, at that time, recommends the man who is perfect in his soul, and who has dest

 XXXIX. (216) The mind, therefore, going forth out of the places which are in Charran, is said to have travelled through the land until it came to the

XXXVI. (196) On which account also that disposition which is ranked in the highest class by God, by name Samuel, does not explain the just precepts of kingly power of Saul, while he is still lying among the pots, but only after he has drawn him out from thence: for he inquires whether the man is still coming hither, and the sacred oracle answers, "Behold, he is hidden among the stuff."[1 Samuel 10:22.] (197) What, then, ought he who hears this answer, and who is by nature inclined to receive instruction, to do, but to draw him out at once from thence? Accordingly, we are told, "He ran up and took him out from thence, because he who was abiding among the vessels of the soul, that is, the body and the outward senses, was not worthy to hear the doctrines and laws of the kingdom (and by the kingdom, we mean wisdom, since we call the wise man a king); but when he has risen up and changed his place, then the mist around him is dissipated, and he will be able to see clearly. Very appropriately, therefore, does the companion of knowledge think it right to leave the region of the outward sense, by name Charran; (198) and he leaves it when he is seventy-five years old; and this number is on the confines of the nature discernible by the outward senses, and that intelligible by the intellect, and of the older and younger, and also of perishable and imperishable nature; (199) for the elder, the imperishable ratio, that comprehensible by the intellect, exists in the seventy; the younger ratio, discernible by the outward senses, is equal in number to the five outward senses. In this latter also the practiser of virtue is seen exercising himself when he has not yet been able to carry off the perfect prize of victory; --for it is said, that all the souls which came out of Jacob were seventy and Five;"[Ge 46:27.]--(200) for to him, while wrestling, and not shrinking at all from the truly sacred contest, for the acquisition of virtue, belong the souls which are the offspring of the body, and which have not yet acquired reason, but are still attracted by the multitude of the outward senses. For Jacob is the name of one who is wrestling and engaged in a contest and trying to trip up his antagonist, not of one who has gained the victory. (201) But when he appeared to have gained ability to behold God, his name was changed to Israel, and then he uses only the computation of seventy, having extirpated the number five, the number of the outward senses; for it is said, that "thy fathers went down to Egypt, being seventy Souls."[De 10:22.] This is the number which is familiar to Moses the wise man: for it happened that those who were selected as carefully picked men out of the whole multitude, were seventy in number; and those all elders, not only in point of age, but also in wisdom and counsel, and in prudence, and in ancient integrity of manners. (202) And this number is consecrated and dedicated to God when the perfect fruits of the soul are offered up. For, on the feast of tabernacles, besides all other sacrifices, it is ordered that the priest should offer up seventy heifers for a burnt offering. Again, it is in accordance with the computation of seventy that the phials of the princes are provided, for each of them is of the weight of seventy shekels; since whatever things are associated and confederate together in the soul, and dear to one another, have a power which is truly attractive, namely, the sacred computation of seventy, which Egypt, the nature which hates virtue, and loves to indulge the passions, is introduced as lamenting; for mourning among them is computed at seventy Days.[Ge 50:8.]