[3] For, when the Framer of the World, finding all that existed confused and disordered of itself, began to give it form, by bringing it out of disorder into order, out of confusion into distinction of parts, He caused earth and water to occupy the position of roots at its centre; the trees, that are air and fire, He drew up from the centre to the space on high; the encircling region of ether He firmly established, and set it to be at once a boundary and guard of all that is within. (Apparently its name “Heaven” is derived from the former word.) And (surpassing wonder!) this Doer of wondrous works caused earth, a dry substance in danger of being dissolved by water, to be held by water, and air, of itself coldest of all things, to be held by fire whose very nature is heat.
[4] How can it be other than a prodigy that the dissolving element should be held together by that which it dissolves, water by earth; and that on the coldest element the hottest should be seated unquenched, fire upon air?
The elements of which we have spoken are the perfect branches of the whole, but the stock, far greater and more productive than all of them, is this world, of which the growths that have been mentioned are offshoots.
[5] We must consider, therefore, where He caused its roots to strike, and on what it rests as a statue on its pedestal. It is unlikely that any material body has been left over and was moving about at random outside, seeing that God had wrought up and placed in orderly position all matter wherever found.
[6] For it became the greatest artificer to fashion to full perfection the greatest of constructions, and it would have come short of full perfection, had it not had a complement of perfect parts. Accordingly this world of ours was formed out of all that there is of earth, and all that there is of water, and air and fire, not even the smallest particle being left outside.
[7] It follows that outside there is either empty space or nothing at all. If there is empty space, how comes it that a thing that is full and dense and heaviest of all existences does not sink down by sheer weight, having nothing solid external to it to hold it up? This would seem to be of the nature of a phantom, since our understanding ever looks for a material basis, which it expects everything to have, even if it be but an empty thing, but above all the world, since it is the largest of material bodies, and holds in its bosom as parts of itself a mass of other material bodies.
[8] Let anyone then, who would fain escape the confusion of face, which we all feel when we have to leave problems unsolved, say plainly that no material thing is so strong as to be able to bear the burden of the world; and that the everlasting Word of the eternal God is the very sure and staunch prop of the Whole.
[60] So much for what was needed by way of preliminary discussion on the three in common. We must now speak of the superior merits shewn by each separately, beginning with the first. Abraham, then, filled with zeal for piety, the highest and greatest of virtues, was eager to follow God and to be obedient to His commands; understanding by commands not only those conveyed in speech and writing but also those made manifest by nature with clearer signs, and apprehended by the sense which is the most truthful of all and superior to hearing, on which no certain reliance can be placed.
[61] For anyone who contemplates the order in nature and the constitution enjoyed by the world-city whose excellence no words can describe, needs no speaker to teach him to practise a law-abiding and peaceful life and to aim at assimilating himself to its beauties. But the clearest proofs of his piety are those which the holy scriptures contain, and the first which should be mentioned is that which comes first in order.
[62] Under the force of an oracle which bade him leave his country and kinsfolk and seek a new home, thinking that quickness in executing the command was as good as full accomplishment, he hastened eagerly to obey, not as though he were leaving home for a strange land but rather as returning from amid strangers to his home.
[63] Yet who else would be likely to be so firm and unmoved of purpose as not to yield and succumb to the charms of kinsfolk and country? The desire of these may be said to be born and grow with each of us and is a part of our nature as much as or even more than the parts which unite to make the whole.
[64] And this is attested by the legislators who have appointed banishment as the penalty second only to death for those who have been convicted of the greatest crimes, though indeed, in my opinion, it is not second to death, if truth gives its verdict, but rather a far heavier punishment, since death ends our troubles but banishment is not the end but the beginning of other new misfortunes and entails in place of the one death which puts an end to pains a thousand deaths in which we do not lose sensation.
[65] Some men go on voyages for trading purposes in their desire for making money or on embassies or in their love of culture to see the sights of a foreign land. These are subject to influences driving them to stay abroad, in some cases financial gains, in others the chance of benefiting their country, when occasion offers, in its most vital and important interests, in others acquiring knowledge of things which they did not know before and thus providing at once pleasure and profit to the soul, for the stay-at-home is to the travelled as the blind are to the keen-sighted. Yet all these are eager to see and salute their native soil, and to greet their familiars and to have the sweet and most desired enjoyment of beholding their kinsfolk and friends. And often when they find the business for which they left home protracting itself they abandon it, drawn by the constraining desire for their own belongings.
[66] But Abraham, the moment he was bidden, departed with a few or even alone, and his emigration was one of soul rather than body, for the heavenly love overpowered his desire for mortal things.
ON JOSEPH that is, the life of the statesman
[1] The factors which produce consummate excellence are three in number: learning, nature, practice. And these names are represented in three of the wise men to whom Moses gives the senior place. Since I have described the lives of these three, the life which results from teaching, the life of the self-taught and the life of practice, I will carry on the series by describing a fourth life, that of the statesman. This name again has its representation in one of the patriarchs who, as Moses shews, was trained to his calling from his earliest youth.
[1] The factors which produce consummate excellence are three in number: learning, nature, practice. And these names are represented in three of the wise men to whom Moses gives the senior place. Since I have described the lives of these three, the life which results from teaching, the life of the self-taught and the life of practice, I will carry on the series by describing a fourth life, that of the statesman. This name again has its representation in one of the patriarchs who, as Moses shews, was trained to his calling from his earliest youth.
[2] This training was first given to him at about the age of seventeen by the lore of the shepherd’s craft, which corresponds closely to the lore of statesmanship. And therefore I think the order of poets often speaks of kings as shepherds of peoples, for success in shepherding will produce the best king, since through the charge of flocks which deserve less thought and care he has been taught the charge of the noblest flock of living creatures—mankind.
[3] And, just as to the future leaders in wars, or in commanding armies, practice in the hunting-field is most necessary, so to those who hope to superintend a state nothing is so suitable as shepherding, which gives practice in the exercise of authority and generalship.
[4] So his father, observing in him a noble spirit which rose above ordinary conditions, rendered to him high admiration and respect, while his love for this child of his later years—and nothing conduces to affection more than this—exceeded his love for his other sons. And being himself a lover of excellence, by special and exceptional attentions he fostered the fire of the boy’s nature, in the hope that it would not merely smoulder but burst rapidly into flame.
[5] But envy, which is ever the enemy of high success, in this case too set to work and created division in a household where every part had been happily flourishing, and stirred up the many brethren against the one. They displayed ill-will to Joseph as a counterpoise to his father’s goodwill, and equalled his love with their hatred. They did not, however, proclaim that hatred aloud, but kept it a secret among themselves, and thus it naturally grew to greater bitterness. For emotions which are cooped up and find no vent become more violent because expression is stifled.
[6] Joseph in the simple innocence of his nature had no notion of the enmity which was lurking in his brothers’ hearts, and, believing them to be friendly, told them a significant dream which he had seen. “I thought,” he said, “that harvest-time was with us, and that we had all come to the plain to gather in the crops. We had taken our sickles and were reaping, when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood bolt upright, while yours, as though at a signal, rushed up in astonishment and did homage to mine with every mark of honour.”
[7] His brothers, being men of keen intelligence, skilful at interpreting symbols and thus by probable conjectures discovering the obscure, replied: “Do you think that you will be our lord and king? For that is what you hint at in this lying vision.” And their hatred, ever finding some new ground to augment it, was still more kindled against him.