not yet entirely convinced, but unable, I know not how, to withdraw again, and always as if by some greater necessities drawn to him by his words. For he said, speaking rightly, that it was not possible at all to be pious towards the master of all things (this which man alone of all living things on earth was honored and deemed worthy to have, and reasonably everyone, both wise and unlearned, is possessed of this, whoever has not entirely lost his senses through some madness), for one who had not philosophized; until, pouring forth many other such arguments one after another, as if we were utterly bewitched, at last by his arts, rendering us simply immovable, he established us by his words, I know not how, with a certain divine power. For he also cast upon us a goad of friendship, not something easily overcome, but sharp and most effective, of skill and good disposition, as much goodwill as was apparent to us in his very tones as he addressed and conversed with us; not trying to get the better of us merely with words, but with a skillful and philanthropic and most excellent purpose both to save us and to make us partners in the good things from philosophy, and especially of the other things, which the divine has bestowed on him alone beyond the many, or perhaps even beyond all men now living, the teacher of piety, the saving Word, which visits many and subdues all whom it may encounter (for there is nothing that will stand against it, being king of all things that are and that will be), but is hidden and not known either easily or with difficulty by the many, so that they are able to say anything clear about it when asked. And so, like a spark, lighting upon our inmost soul, was kindled and set ablaze both my love for the holy Word itself, most lovely and most attractive of all by its ineffable beauty, and my love for this man, its friend and advocate. Deeply wounded by this love, I was persuaded to neglect all affairs or studies that seemed to belong to us, both the others and my own fine laws, and my country and my kinsmen, both those present here and those from whom we had journeyed away. But one thing was dear and beloved to me, philosophy and this divine man, its guide. And the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. I read this later in the sacred writings, but I experienced it earlier no less vividly than it is stated, although it was uttered as an oracle most vividly. For it was not simply Jonathan that was knit to David, but the most essential part, the soul, which, even when the visible and apparent parts of a man are separated, cannot itself be forced to be separated by any device; against its will, by no means. For the soul is free and in no way confined, not even if you shut it up and keep it in a little house. For its nature is to be, in the primary sense, wherever its mind is; and if it seems to you to be in the little house, it appears to you there in a secondary sense; being in no way prevented by this from being where it wishes to be, or rather, it is both able and reasonably believed to be only and altogether there, where and toward which its own proper works according to its own nature are. Therefore, did it not declare in the briefest words this most manifest thing which I experienced, that the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David? These things, as I said, will in no way be forced to be separated against their will, and willingly they will not easily desire it. For the power to dissolve these sacred bonds of friendship does not rest, I think, with the worse part, which is versatile and more easily changes its mind, upon which alone the binding at the beginning did not even depend; but with the better part, which is stable and not easily shaken, upon which it was more fitting to forge the bonds and this sacred knot. For indeed, according to the divine word, it was not the soul of David that was bound to the soul of Jonathan; but on the contrary, the soul of the lesser, having experienced this, is said to be bound to the soul of David. For the greater, being self-sufficient, would not choose to be bound to its inferior, but the lesser, needing help from the better, ought to be attached to the greater, being bound to it; so that

οὐδέπω πάντη πεπεισμένοι, ἀφίστασθαι δὲ πάλιν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως οὐ δυνάμενοι, ἀεὶ δὲ ὥσπερ ὑπό τισιν ἀνάγκαις μείζοσι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἑλκόμενοι. Ὅλως γὰρ οὐδ' εὐσεβεῖν εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων δεσπότην (τοῦτο ὃ δὴ μόνος τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς πάντων ζώων ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἔχειν ἐτιμήθη τε καὶ ἠξιώθη, καὶ εἰκότως πᾶς ὁστισοῦν καὶ σοφὸς καὶ ἀμαθὴς περιέχεται τούτου, ὅστις μὴ παντελῶς τὰς ἐννοίας ἀπολώλεκεν ὑπό τινος φρενοβλαβείας), οὐ τοίνυν οὐδὲ εὐσεβεῖν ὅλως δυνατὸν εἶναι ἔφασκεν, ὀρθῶς λέγων, μὴ φιλοσοφήσαντι· ἕως πολλοὺς τοιούτους ἄλλους ἐπ' ἄλλοις ἐπαντλῶν λόγους, ὥσπερ τινὰς κατα γεγοητευμένους, ἐπὶ τέλει ταῖς αὐτοῦ τέχναις ἀκινήτους ἀτεχνῶς φέρων ἡμᾶς παριδρύσατο λόγοις τοῖς αὐτοῦ, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως, σύν τινι θείᾳ δυνάμει. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ φιλίας ἡμῖν κέντρον ἐνέσκηψεν, οὐκ εὐκαταγώνιστόν τι, δριμὺ δὲ καὶ ἀνυτικώτατον, δεξιότητος καὶ διαθέσεως τῆς ἀγαθῆς, ὅση εὐνοητική τις ἡμῖν αὐταῖς ταῖς φωναῖς αὐτοῦ προσφθεγγομένου καὶ ὁμιλοῦντος ἐνε φαίνετο· οὐκ ἐκπεριεῖναι ἡμᾶς ἄλλως λόγοις πειρωμένου, δεξιᾷ δὲ καὶ φιλανθρώπῳ καὶ χρηστοτάτῃ γνώμῃ σώζειν τε καὶ κοινωνοὺς τῶν τε ἐκ φιλοσοφίας ἀγαθῶν κατα στήσασθαι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μάλιστα, ὅσα τὸ θεῖον παρὰ τοὺς πολλούς, ἢ καὶ παρὰ πάντας ἴσως τοὺς νῦν ἀνθρώπους, αὐτῷ μόνῳ ἐδωρήσατο, τὸν διδάσκαλον εὐσεβείας, τὸν σωτήριον λόγον, πολλοῖς μὲν ἐπιφοιτῶντα καὶ πάντας κατεργαζόμενον, ὅσοις ἂν προστύχῃ (οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ὅ τι αὐτῷ ἐνστήσεται, πάντων καὶ ὄντι καὶ ἐσομένῳ βασιλεῖ), κρυπτόμενον δὲ καὶ οὐ γινωσκόμενον οὔτε ῥᾳδίως οὔτε καὶ δυσχερῶς τοῖς πολλοῖς, ὡς ἐρωτηθέντας ἔχειν περὶ αὐτοῦ σαφὲς εἰπεῖν. Οἷος οὖν τις σπινθήρ, ἐνσκήψας μέσῃ τῇ ψυχῇ ἡμῶν, ἀνήπτετό τε καὶ ἐξεκαίετο ὅ τε πρὸς τὸν ἁπάντων ὑπὸ κάλλους ἀρρήτου ἐπακτικώτατον αὐτὸν λόγον τὸν ἱερὸν τὸν ἐρασμιώτατον, καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα τόνδε τὸν αὐτοῦ φίλον καὶ προήγορον ἔρως· ᾧ μάλιστα τετρωμένος ἁπάντων τῶν δοκούντων ἡμῖν προσήκειν πραγμάτων ἢ μαθημάτων, τῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν καλῶν μου νόμων, ἀμελεῖν ἐπειθόμην πατρίδος τε καὶ οἰκείων, τῶν τε παρόντων ἐνταῦθα καὶ οἷς ἀπεδημή σαμεν. Ἓν δέ μοι φίλον ἦν καὶ ἀγαπώμενον, φιλοσοφία τε καὶ ὁ ταύτης καθηγεμὼν οὗτος ὁ θεῖος ἄνθρωπος· καὶ συνεδέθη ἡ ψυχὴ Ἰωνάθαν ∆αυίδ. Τοῦτο ἀνέγνων μὲν ὕστερον ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν, ἔπαθον δὲ πρότερον οὐχ ἧττον ἐναργῶς ἢ εἴρηται, καίτοι γε ἐναργέστατα κε χρησμῳδημένον. Οὐ γὰρ συνεδέθη ἁπλῶς Ἰωνάθαν ∆αυίδ, αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ κυριώτατα, ψυχή, ταῦθ' ἅπερ οὐδὲ χωρισθέντων τῶν φαινομένων καὶ βλεπομένων ἀνθρώπῳ χωρισθῆναι καὶ αὐτὰ μηχανῇ τινι καταναγκασθήσεται· ἄκοντα μὲν οὐδαμῶς. Ψυχὴ γὰρ ἐλεύθερον καὶ οὐκ ἐγκατάκλειστον οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ, οὐδ' ἂν ἐν οἰκίσκῳ καθείρξας τηρῇς. Καὶ γὰρ εἶναι πέφυκε τόν γε πρῶτον λόγον, οὗπερ ἂν ὁ νοῦς ᾖ· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ οἰκίσκῳ σοι εἶναι δοκεῖ, κατὰ δεύτερόν τινα λόγον ἐνταῦθά σοι φαντάζεται· οὐδαμῶς εἶναι ἐκεῖ διὰ τοῦτο κεκωλυμένη, οὗπερ ἂν εἶναι βουληθῇ, μᾶλλον δὲ πάντη πάντως ἐκεῖ μόνον εἶναι καὶ δυναμένη καὶ πιστευθεῖσα ἂν εἰκότως, οὗπερ ἂν καὶ πρὸς ὃ ἂν τὰ μόνης αὐτῆς ἴδια κατ' αὐτὴν ἔργα ᾖ. Οὐκοῦν περιφα νέστατον τοῦθ' ὅπερ ἔπαθον βραχυτάταις λέξεσιν ἐδήλωσε, τὴν ψυχὴν Ἰωνάθαν συνδεδέσθαι τῇ ψυχῇ ∆αυίδ; Ταῦθ' ἅπερ ἄκοντα μὲν οὐδαμῶς, ὡς ἔφην, χωρισθῆναι ἐκνικηθήσεται, ἑκόντα δὲ οὐ ῥᾳδίως θελήσει. Οὐ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ χείρονι οἶμαι, ὄντι πολυτρόπῳ καὶ εὐκολωτέρῳ μεταβουλεύεσθαι, ἡ τῆς ἀναλύσεως τῶν ἱερῶν τῶν φιλίων τούτων δεσμῶν ἐξουσία, ἐφ' ᾧπερ οὐδὲ τὸ καταδήσασθαι ἐγένετο τὴν ἀρχὴν μόνῳ· ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῷ κρείττονι, ὄντι μονίμῳ καὶ οὐκ εὐσείστῳ, ἐφ' ᾧπερ καὶ κατεργάσασθαι τοὺς δεσμοὺς καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο ἅμμα μᾶλλον ἦν. Συνεδέθη γοῦν καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου λόγου οὐχ ἡ ψυχὴ ∆αυὶδ τῇ ψυχῇ Ἰωνάθαν· ἔμπαλιν δὲ ἡ τοῦ χείρονος ψυχὴ τοῦτο παθοῦσα συνδεομένη λέγεται τῇ ψυχῇ ∆αυίδ. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ κρεῖττον, αὔταρκες ὄν, ἕλοιτο ἂν τῷ αὐτοῦ συνδεδέσθαι χείρονι, ἀλλὰ τὸ χεῖρον, ἐπικουρίας δεόμενον τῆς παρὰ τοῦ βελτίονος, συνδεθὲν τῷ κρείττονι προσηρτῆ σθαι ἐχρῆν· ἵνα