A Treatise on the Special Laws, Which Are Referred to Three Articles of the Decalogue, Namely the Third, Fourth, and Fifth About Oaths, and the Rever

 I. (1) In the treatise preceding this one we have discussed with accuracy two articles of the ten commandments, that which relates to not thinking tha

 II. (6) And some men display such easiness and indifference on the subject, that, passing over all created things, they dare in their ordinary convers

 III. (9) But if any one being compelled to swear, swears by anything whatever in a manner which the law does not forbid, let him exert himself with al

 IV. And in this description of oaths those most lawful vows are included which are offered up in consequence of an abundance of blessings, either pres

 V. (18) But there are other persons, also, boastful, puffed up with pride and arrogance, who, being insatiably greedy of glory, are determined to obey

 VI. (24) But the law takes away from virgins and from married women the power of making vows independently, pronouncing the parents of the one class,

 VII. (29) These then are the ordinances contained in the express language of these commandments but there is also an allegorical meaning concealed be

 VIII. (32) But in the case of those persons who have vowed not merely their own property or some part of it, but also their own selves, the law has af

 IX. (35) These are the ordinances established in respect of men, but about animals the following commands are given. If any one shall set apart any be

 X. (39) The next commandment is that concerning the sacred seventh day, in which are comprehended an infinite number of most important festivals. For

 XI. (41) Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets them down.

 XII. (42) The law sets down every day as a festival, adapting itself to an irreproachable life, as if men continually obeyed nature and her injunction

 XIII. (46) Being, therefore, full of all kinds of excellence, and being accustomed to disregard all those good things which affect the body and extern

 XIV. (49) Wherefore, if truth were to be the judge, no wicked or worthless man can pass a time of festival, no not even for the briefest period, inasm

 XV. (56) But after this continued and uninterrupted festival which thus lasts through all time, there is another celebrated, namely, that of the sacre

 XVI. (65) It is forbidden also on this day to kindle a fire, as being the beginning and seed of all the business of life since without fire it is not

 XVII. (71) And Moses thinks the number seven worthy of such reverence that even all other things which at all partake of it are honoured by him at al

 XVIII. (79) After having given these commandments, Moses proceeds in regular order to establish a law full of all gentleness and humanity. If, says

 XIX. (86) In the next place Moses commands the people to leave the land fallow and untilled every seventh year, for many reasons [Le 25:4.] first of

 XX. (96) Then, O you most worthless of all men! I would say to them, have you not first learnt what you are now teaching? or do you know how to invite

 XXI. (104) And the lawgiver, who is a prophetic spirit, gave us our laws, having a regard to these things, and proclaimed a holiday to the whole count

 XXII. (110) Having laid down these principles as a kind of foundation of gentleness and humanity, he then puts together seven sevens of years, and so

 XXIII. (116) These are the commandments which are given with respect to the divisions of the land and the inheritances so portioned out. There are oth

 XXIV. (120) And concerning the tribe which was set apart as consecrated for the priesthood, the following laws are established. The law did not bestow

 XXV. (122) But the laws established with respect to those who owed money to usurers, and to those who had become servants to masters, resemble those a

 XXVI. (140) Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all, because it is th

 XXVII. (145) And after the feast of the new moon comes the fourth festival, that of the passover, which the Hebrews call pascha, on which the whole pe

 XXVIII. (150) And there is another festival combined with the feast of the passover, having a use of food different from the usual one, and not custom

 XXIX. (162) There is also a festival on the day of the paschal feast, which succeeds the first day, and this is named the sheaf, from what takes place

 XXX. (176) The solemn assembly on the occasion of the festival of the sheaf having such great privileges, is the prelude to another festival of still

 XXXI. (188) Immediately after comes the festival of the sacred moon in which it is the custom to play the trumpet in the temple at the same moment th

 XXXII. (193) And after the feast of trumpets the solemnity of the fast is celebrated, [part of sections 193�194 was omitted in Yonge's translation bec

 XXXIII. (204) The last of all the annual festivals is that which is called the feast of tabernacles, which is fixed for the season of the autumnal equ

 XXXIV. (215) There is, besides all these, another Festival[De 26:1.] sacred to God, and a solemn assembly on the day of the festival which they call c

 XXXV. (216) Nevertheless, any one may easily see that it has about it some of the characteristics of a sacred festival, and that it comes very near to

 XXXVI. (220) This hymn is sung from the beginning of summer to the end of autumn, by two choruses replying to one another uninterruptedly, on two sepa

 XXXVII. (223) I have now said thus much respecting the number seven, and the things referring to it among the days, and the months, and the years and

 XXXVIII. (224) Having already spoken of four commandments which, both as to the order in which they are placed and as to their importance, are truly t

 XXXIX. (226) And this is not the only reason why a man's father and mother are deserving of honour, but here are also several other reasons. For among

 XL. (228) I affirm, therefore, that that which produces is always older than that which is produced, and that that which causes anything is older than

 XLI. (232) For these reasons it is allowable for parents even to accuse their children, and to reprove them with considerable severity, and even, if t

 XLII. (234) Since this, then, is the case, those who do honour their parents are not doing anything worthy of praise, since even any single one of the

 XLIII. (237) And any one may conjecture that pious respect is due to parents, not only from what has been said above, but also from the manner in whic

 XLIV. (242) I have now then gone through all the five heads of laws in the first table, and have noticed also all the particular points which had any

 XLV. (249) Again, let the man who has profaned the sacred seventh day as far as it may have lain in his power, be liable to the punishment of death. F

 XLVI. (252) Against those who call God as a witness in favour of assertions which are not true, the punishment of death is ordained in the law [De 19

 XLVII. (257) We have now then mentioned the punishments which are ordained against those who neglect the five commandments. But the rewards which are

 XLVIII. (260) Again, those who properly keep the sacred sabbath are benefited in two most important particulars, both body and soul as to their body,

IV. And in this description of oaths those most lawful vows are included which are offered up in consequence of an abundance of blessings, either present or expected; but if any vows are made for contrary objects, it is not holy to ratify them, (13) for there are some men who swear, if chance so prompts them, to commit theft, or sacrilege, or adultery, or rape, or to inflict wounds or slaughter, or any similar acts of wickedness, and who perform them without any delay, making an excuse that they must keep their oaths, as if it were not better and more acceptable to God to do no iniquity, than to perform such a vow and oath as that. The national laws and ancient ordinances of every people are established for the sake of justice and of every virtue, and what else are laws and ordinances but the sacred words of nature having an authority and power in themselves, so that they differ in no respect from oaths? (14) And let every man who commits wicked actions because he is so bound by an oath, beware that he is not keeping his oath, but that he is rather violating one which is worthy of great care and attention to preserve it, which sets a seal as it were to what is honourable and just, for he is adding wickedness to wickedness, adding lawless actions to oaths taken on improper occasions, which had better have been buried in silence. (15) Let such a man, therefore, abstain from committing iniquity, and seek to propitiate God, that he may grant to him the mercy of that humane power which is innate in him, so as to pardon him for the oaths which he took in his folly. For it is incurable madness and insanity to take upon himself twofold evils, when he might put off one half of the burden of them. (16) But there are some men who, out of the excess of their wicked hatred of their species, being naturally unsociable and inhuman, or else being constrained by anger as by a hard mistress, think to confirm the savageness of their natural disposition by an oath, swearing that they will not admit this man or that man to sit at the same table with them, or to come under the same roof; or, again, that they will not give any assistance to such an one, or that they will not receive any from him as long as he lives. And sometimes even after the death of their enemy, they keep up their irreconcileable enmity, not allowing their friends to give the customary honours even to their dead bodies when in the grave. (17) I would recommend to such men, as to those I have mentioned before, to seek to propitiate the mercy of God by prayers and sacrifices, that so they may find some cure for the diseases of their souls which no man is competent to heal.