The Third Book of the Treatise on The Allegories of the Sacred Laws, after the Work of the Six

 I. (1) And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the Paradise.[Ge 8:8.] A doctrine is introduc

 II. (4) And let us in the next place consider how any one is said to be concealed from God but unless any one receives this as an allegorical saying

 III. (7) And we must understand this in the following manner. In the wicked man the true opinion concerning God is overshadowed and kept out of sight,

 IV. (11) Be thou therefore O my soul in all your entirety always visible to God, for three separate times, that is to say for time divided according t

 V. (16) And Jacob concealed himself from Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he was about to flee from him, and he fled from him, taking w

 VI. (18) But why now, as if Jacob had been ignorant that Laban was a Syrian, does Moses say, And Jacob concealed himself from Laban the Syrian. This

 VII. (21) And what that prudence was he will proceed to tell us, for he adds, And you have led away my daughters as captives and if you had told me,

 VIII. (23) But Moses speaks thus, And they gave to Jacob the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears and J

 IX. (28) We have shown, therefore, in what manner the wicked man is a fugitive, and how he conceals himself from God but now let us consider where he

 X. (32) On this account also Moses says, that If a thief be detected in the act of breaking into a house, and be smitten so that he die, that shall n

 XI. (36) And it is in reference to this that the Holy Scripture curses any one who has placed in any secret place any carved thing, or any thing made

 XII. (37) But that the wicked man skins into and is concealed within his own scattered mind, fleeing from the real mind or truth, is testified by Mose

 XIII. On which account Moses says moreover, He led him forth out of doors and said to him, look up to heaven, and count the Stars,[Ge 15:5.] which w

 XIV. (42) On which account in another passage also he boasts, saying the Lord the God of Heaven, and the God of earth who took me out of the house of

 XV. (45) For the hands of Moses are Heavy.[Ex 17:12.] For since the actions of the wicked man are like the wind and light, those of the wise man on

 XVI. (49) And the Lord God called Adam, and said unto him, where art Thou?[Ge 3:9.] Why now is Adam, alone called, when his wife also was concealed

 XVII. (51) And the expression Where art thou? amidst of being interpreted in many ways. In the first place it may be taken not as an interrogation,

 XVIII. (55) And yet Adam is not now naked. It has been said a little before that they made themselves girdles, but by this expression Moses intends

 XIX. (59) And God said to the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And she said, The serpent beguiled me and I did eat. God asks one question

 XX. (61) But take notice that the man says that the woman gave it to him but that the woman does not say that the serpent gave it to her, but that he

 XXI. (65) And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed above all cattle and every beats of the field upo

 XXII. (69) On this account also, God saw that Er was Wicked,[Ge 38:7.] without any apparent cause for this judgment of his character, and he slew hi

 XXIII. (73) You see that it is not the Lord who is here spoken of as slaying Er, but God. For he does not kill the body in respect of the absolute and

 XXIV. (77) As, therefore, God hates pleasure and the body without any especial cause, so also does he give pre-eminent honour to virtuous natures with

 XXV. (79) Moreover, God made Melchisedek, the king of peace, that is of Salem, for that is the interpretation of this name, his own high Priest,[Ge

 XXVI. (82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in o

 XXVII. (83) And what good thing had Abraham done as yet when God called him and bade him become a stranger to his country and to this generation, an

 XXVIII. (85) But there are some persons whom, even before their creation, God creates and disposes excellently respecting whom he determines beforeha

 XXIX. (88) Again, they say that Jacob and Esau, the former being the ruler, and governor, and master, and Esau being the subject and the slave, had th

 XXX. (90) Again, why did the same Jacob when Joseph brought him his two sons, the elder being Manasses and the younger Ephraim, change his hands, and

 XXXI. (95) On which account God also calls Bezaleel by name, and says that He will give him wisdom and knowledge, and that He will make him the build

 XXXII. (97) Let us now, then, examine what the character which is impressed upon man is. The ancient philosophers used to inquire how we obtained our

 XXXIII. (100) There is also a more perfect and more highly purified kind which has been initiated into the great mysteries, and which does not disting

 XXXIV. (104) Since therefore we find that there are two natures which have been created and fashioned and accurately and skilfully framed by God the

 XXXV. (107) And the Lord God said to the serpent, Thou art cursed over every creature and over all the beasts of the field. As joy being a good stat

 XXXVI. But the holy scripture has prohibited such an exchange as this when it says, Thou shalt not exchange good for Evil[Le 27:33.] (111) On this a

 XXXVII. (113) And he is accursed beyond all the beasts of the field. And I mean by this, beyond all the passions of the soul, for it is only there t

 XXXVIII. (114) Upon thy breast and upon thy belly shalt thou Go.[Ge 3:14.] For passion works around these parts, the breast and the belly, like a se

 XXXIX. (116) If therefore you shall ever inquire, O my mind, what situation has been assigned to pleasure, do not take into your consideration the par

 XL. (118) At all events the holy scripture being well aware how great is the power of the impetuosity of each passion, anger and appetite, puts a brid

 XVI. On which account we have been compelled to have recourse to such signs as are given by the voices, that is nouns and verbs, which ought by all me

 XLII. (123) Moses, therefore, says that discreet discourse, having its own peculiar virtues, is placed on the breast of Aaron, that is to say, of ange

 XLIII. (125) To whom, or to what, then, does it belong to bear these things? Not to my mind, or to that of any chance person, but to the consecrated a

 XLIV. (128) Aaron, therefore, for he is a second Moses, restraining the breast, that is to say, the angry passions, does not allow them to be carried

 XLV. (129) But he, as I have already said, having this passion, endeavours to cure it by the saving remedies already enumerated. But Moses thinks that

 XLVI. (133) And he will, moreover, make the difference more evident to us by the following expression:--For the wave-breast and the heaveshoulder hav

 XLVII. (138) Now that pleasure dwells not only in the breast but also in the belly, we have already stated, showing that the belly is the most appropr

 XLVIII. So, also, now he who is perfectly wise, that is, Moses, will be found to have utterly shaken off an discarded the pleasures. But he who is onl

 XLIX. (144) And he also displays, in a further degree, the moderation of the passions of the man who is advancing towards perfection, by the fact that

 L. The filling of the belly is a most enduring and universal thing and, as it were, a kind of foundation of the other passions. At all events, there

 LI. (148) On this account Moses says, with respect to the soul which is suspected of having committed adultery, [Nu 5:27.] that, if having abandoned r

 LII. (151) Is it then possible for us, who are bound up in our bodies, to avoid complying with the necessities of the body? And if it is possible, how

 LIII. (155) And in this way when we are at entertainments, and when we are about to come to the enjoyment and use of luxuries that have been prepared

 LIV. (160) Moses therefore does well when he adds, Thou shalt go upon thy breast and upon thy Belly.[Ge 3:14.] For pleasure is not one of the things

 LV. (161) But the expression, And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life, is also used with great propriety. For the pleasures which are deriv

 LVI. (162) But that the food of the soul is not earthly but heavenly the Holy Scriptures will testify in many passages, Behold I will rain upon you b

 LVII. (165) Collect therefore, O my soul, what is sufficient and proper, and in such a quantity as shall neither exceed by being more than is sufficie

 LVIII. (167) And this appears to me to be the reason why the sentence which I have cited above was uttered. Day is an emblem of light, and the light o

 LIX. (169) And Moses shows this in other passages also, when he says, And in the morning the dew lay round about the hosts and when the dew that lay

 LX. (172) There is a certain peculiarity which is attached to this word. For when it calls the soul to itself, it excites a congealing power in everyt

 LXI. (174) He says also in Deuteronomy, And he has humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knowest not, neithe

 LXII. (177) But these men pray to be nourished by the word of God: but Jacob, raising his head above the word, says that he is nourished by God himsel

 LXIII. (179) And he uttered this prayer, blaming Joseph the statesman and governor, because he had ventured to say, I will feed them in that Land,[G

 LXIV. (182) And I will place enmity between thee and between the Woman.[Ge 3:15.] In reality, pleasure is hostile to the external sense, although, t

 LXV. (184) And take notice here, that Moses does not say, I will cause enmity to thee and the woman, but, I will place enmity between thee and betw

 LXVI. (186) And the war between these things in manifest. At all events, according to the superiority of the mind when it applies itself to incorporea

 LXVII. (188) And the expression, He shall watch thy head, and thou shalt watch his Heel,[Ge 3:15.] is, as to its language, a barbarism, but, as to t

 LXVIII. (189) But the words, shall watch, intimate two things: in the first place it means as it were shall keep, and shall preserve. And, in th

 LXIX. (192) Therefore the one who as superior in virtue received the first place, which, indeed, fell to him as his due. For he also obtained the bles

 LXX. (195) But as long as you did not escape, and while you were still bridled with the bridle of those masters, you were unworthy to be the servant o

 LXXI. (200) And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy Groaning.[Ge 3:16.] The affection which is called pain is a sufferi

 LXXII. (203) But as God has allotted all painful things to the outward sense in great abundance and intensity, so also has he bestowed on the virtuous

 LXXIII. (205) They say, indeed, that an oath is a testimony borne by God concerning a matter which is the subject of doubt. But if God swears he is be

 LXXIV. (209) But the expression, Because thou hast done this Thing,[Ge 22:16.] is a symbol of piety. For to do everything for the sake of God alone

 LXXV. (211) Therefore it is not sufficient for the unfortunate external sense to be abundantly occupied with pains, but it must also be full of groani

 LXXVI. (214) But now Moses says that Their cry has gone up to God, bearing witness to the grace of the living God. For if he had not powerfully summ

 LXXVII. (217) On the other hand, you will find virtue not only conceiving with extraordinary joy, but also bringing forth her good offspring with laug

 LXXVIII. (220) And thy desire, says God, shall be to thy Husband.[Ge 3:16.] There are two husbands of the outward senses. The one a legal one, the

 LXXIX. (222) Let us now see what account Moses gives of the mind itself, when it is set in motion in a way contrary to right reason. And God said unto

 LXXX. And Moses, indeed, speaks of and describes such a conflagration of the mind as this which arises in consequence of the operation of the outward

 LXXXI. (228) It is best, therefore, to trust in God, and not in uncertain reasonings, or unsure conjectures. Abraham trusted in the Lord, and it was

 LXXXII. (230) And it devours even as far as Moab that is to say, as far as the mind. For what other creature, except the miserable mind, can a fals

 LXXXIII. (233) Sihon, then, who destroys the sound rule of truth, and his seed also, shall both perish and so shall Heshbon, namely, the sophistical

 LXXXIV. (236) One of these women is Pentepho', the wife of Pharaoh's chief Cook.[genesis 39:1.] We must now consider how a man who was a eunuch can be

 LXXXV. (238) And, at first, he only skirmishes, but presently he fights and resists valiantly, when the soul enters into her own dwelling, and, having

 LXXXVI. (241) And who, some one perhaps, may say, ever escapes in-doors? Do not many do so? Or have not some people, avoiding the guilt of sacrilege,

 LXXXVII. On which account after folly has been utterly eradicated, the soul receives a twofold prize, and a double inheritance, peace and holiness, tw

 LXXXVIII. (246) And the expression, And thou eatest of the tree of which alone I commanded thee that thou shouldst not Eat,[Ge 3:17.] is equivalent

 LXXXIX. (248) Thorns, therefore, and thistles shall it bring forth to you. But what is it which is produced and which shoots up in the soul of the f

 XC. (251) And thou shalt eat the herb of the field in the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat thy bread. He here speaks of the herb of the field and o

The Third Book of the Treatise on The Allegories of the Sacred Laws, after the Work of the Six

Days of Creation.