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he attempted the labors for piety in his life, his name was Jacob, and the 7.8.27 name, when translated into the Greek language, denotes an ascetic and an athlete; but when, at last, having received the prizes of victory against his opponents, he is crowned and now enjoys the goods that come through contemplation, then the God who gives oracles also changes his name, at the same time both deeming him worthy of seeing God and bestowing through this name the rewards of more divine prizes 7.8.28 and honors. Therefore the oracle says to him: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name, for you have been strong with God and powerful with men,” with Israel signifying a man who sees and contemplates; 7.8.29 since the name, when changed, means "a man seeing God." Such, then, was he from whom the twelve-tribed race of the Jewish nation arose. Countless things could be said about the life of these men and their philosophical endurance and ascetic practice, some things considered literally, and others allegorized through hidden meanings; about which things have been said by others, and also by us in the work we composed, "On the Large Families of the Ancient Men." Such, then, were these men. 7.8.30 I can tell you of another besides them, Job was the man's name, whom the sacred oracles testify to have been "a man blameless, true, just, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil thing." This man, though in no way related to the Jewish race, has been attested for all his achievements of piety. 7.8.31 And indeed the sons of Jacob, having earnestly pursued their ancestral knowledge of God and piety, advanced the fame of the Hebrews of old to a great height of glory, so as now to even take on the rule of all Egypt. 7.8.32 For indeed Joseph, having first been crowned with the prizes of self-control, and then having assumed the leadership of the Egyptians, demonstrated the God-loving way of the Hebrews, which we ourselves have made it a prayer to emulate, for he had become a slave through the plotting of his own family, and a slave of an Egyptian 7.8.33 man. For I think I will pass over the other things, all that he was fortunate to have in beauty and strength of body and comeliness, even if the oracles record that he surpassed all in the bloom of beauty; but how could one describe the things concerning his soul, if he has chosen to go through the praise in a manner worthy of the man's virtue? 7.8.34 It is said that by nature he had the mark of freedom and the nobility of his character blooming in his face; and he was exceptionally trained in the distinguished adornments of piety, so that his soul shone forth in self-control and justice and prudence and courage, and much more so in the knowledge and piety of the God of all, which his parents are said to have instilled in his soul from infancy. 7.8.35 Therefore, when his master's wife was maddened with desire for him and tried to drag his young body into intemperate and amorous encounters, and at first attempting to deceive him with words, then beseeching him with supplications, and finally daring to lay hands on him more violently, and now using shameless and impudent embraces, the hero, recalling to memory the pious teaching of his fathers and proving himself God-fearing and truly a Hebrew in deeds as well as words, shakes off the shameful and licentious woman, eluding her with a stronger hand, and just as if escaping some terrible and rabid wild beast, he procures his safety by flight. 7.8.36 And then, with sober reasoning, he reflects to himself and says these things: “If my master, on account of me, knows nothing in his house, and has given all that he has into my hands, how can I do this great wicked thing and sin against God?” Whereupon the God of all, as if crowning him as a victor with the prizes of virtue, delivers to him the kingship and leadership over his masters and over Egypt itself; but yet this man also was a Hebrew from

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βίοις τῶν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας πόνων ἀπεπειρᾶτο, Ἰακὼβ αὐτῷ ὄνομα ἦν, ἀσκητὴν δὲ καὶ ἀθλητὴν ἡ 7.8.27 προσηγορία δηλοῖ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα μεταληφθεῖσα φωνήν· ὅτε δὲ λοιπὸν τὰ νικητήρια κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων ἀπολαβὼν στέφεται ἤδη τε τῶν κατὰ θεωρίαν ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύει, τηνικαῦτα αὐτῷ καὶ τοὔνομα μεταβάλλει ὁ χρηματίζων θεός, ὁμοῦ καὶ θεοπτίας αὐτὸν ἀξιῶν καὶ τῶν θειοτέρων γερῶν 7.8.28 τε καὶ τιμῶν τὰς ἀμοιβὰς διὰ τῆς προσηγορίας δωρούμενος. λέγει δ' οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ χρησμός· «Οὐκέτι κληθήσεται τὸ ὄνομά σου Ἰακώβ, ἀλλ' Ἰσραὴλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου, ὅτι ἐνίσχυσας μετὰ θεοῦ καὶ μετὰ ἀνθρώπων δυνατός,» τὸν ὁρατικὸν ἄνδρα καὶ θεωρητικὸν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὑποφαίνοντος· 7.8.29 ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὔνομα μεταβληθὲν σημαίνει ἄνθρωπον ὁρῶντα θεόν. τοιόσδε μὲν οὖν καὶ οὗτος ἐξ οὗ τὸ δωδεκάφυλον τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους ὑπέστη γένος. μυρία δ' ἂν λεχθείη περὶ τοῦ βίου τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τῆς φιλοσόφου καρτερίας τε αὐτῶν καὶ ἀσκήσεως, τὰ μὲν πρὸς λέξιν θεωρούμενα, τὰ δὲ καὶ δι' ὑπονοιῶν ἀλληγορούμενα· περὶ ὧν εἴρηται μὲν καὶ ἄλλοις, ἀτὰρ καὶ ἡμῖν ἐν οἷς ἐπραγματευσάμεθα «Περὶ τῆς τῶν παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν πολυπαιδίας.» τοιοίδε μὲν οὖν καὶ οὗτοι. 7.8.30 Ἔχω σοι παρ' αὐτοὺς καὶ ἄλλον εἰπεῖν, Ἰὼβ ὄνομα τῷ ἀνδρί, ὃν τὰ ἱερὰ γεγονέναι μαρτυρεῖ λόγια «ἄνθρωπον ἄμεμπτον, ἀληθινόν, δίκαιον, θεοσεβῆ, ἀπεχόμενον ἀπὸ παντὸς πονηροῦ πράγματος.» οὗτός γέ τοι οὐδὲν προσήκων τῷ Ἰουδαίων γένει ἐπὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς εὐσεβείας κατορθώμασι 7.8.31 μεμαρτύρηται. οἵ γε μὴν τοῦ Ἰακὼβ παῖδες τὴν πάτριον θεογνωσίαν τε καὶ εὐσέβειαν διὰ σπουδῆς πεποιημένοι τὴν τῶν ἀνέκαθεν Ἑβραίων φήμην ἐπὶ μέγα δόξης προῆγον, ὥστε ἤδη καὶ πάσης Αἰγύπτου τὴν ἀρχὴν 7.8.32 ἀνάψασθαι. ὁ γάρ τοι Ἰωσὴφ τοῖς σωφροσύνης προαναστεφθεὶς βραβείοις κἄπειτα τὴν Αἰγυπτίων ἀναδησάμενος ἡγεμονίαν, τὸν θεοφιλῆ τῶν Ἑβραίων διέδειξε τρόπον, ὃν καὶ αὐτὸν ζηλοῦν δι' εὐχῆς πεποιήμεθα, δοῦλον γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐξ οἰκείων ἐπιβουλῆς γεγενημένον καὶ δοῦλον Αἰγυπτίου 7.8.33 ἀνδρός. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα ὅσα εἰς ὡραιότητα καὶ ῥώμην σώματος αὐτῷ καὶ εὐμορφίαν ηὐτύχητο παρήσειν μοι δοκῶ, εἰ καὶ τὰ λόγια κάλλους αὐτὸν ὥρᾳ διενεγκεῖν πάντας ἀναγράφει· τὰ δὲ περὶ ψυχῆς πῶς ἄν τις διαγράψειε, κατ' ἀξίαν τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀρετῆς τὸν ἔπαινον διελθεῖν προῃρη7.8.34 μένος; φύσει μὲν αὐτῷ παρεῖναι λόγος τὸ ἐλευθέριον γνώρισμα τοῦ τε τρόπου τὸ εὐγενὲς ἐπανθοῦν τῷ προσώπῳ· τοῖς δὲ εὐσεβείας διαπρέπουσι κόσμοις διαφερόντως ἐξήσκητο, ὡς ἐν σωφροσύνῃ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ φρονήσει τε καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκλάμπειν καὶ πολὺ πρότερον ἐν ἐπιγνώσει καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ τοῦ τῶν ἁπάντων θεοῦ, ἣν οἱ γεννήσαντες ἐκ σπαργάνων λέγονται αὐτοῦ 7.8.35 τῇ ψυχῇ καταβεβληκέναι. ἐπιμανείσῃ δ' οὖν αὐτῷ τῇ τοῦ δεσπότου γαμετῇ εἰς ἀκολάστους τε καὶ ἐρωτικὰς ὁμιλίας ἅτε νέον τὸ σῶμα κατασύρειν πειρωμένῃ καὶ πρῶτα μὲν λόγοις ἀπατᾶν αὐτὸν ἐπιχειρούσῃ, εἶτα δὲ ἱκεσίαις ἀντιβολούσῃ καὶ τέλος βιαιότερον χεῖρας ἐπάγειν τολμώσῃ ἀναιδέσι τε ἤδη καὶ ἀναισχύντοις περιπλοκαῖς χρωμένῃ τῆς τῶν πατέρων εὐσεβοῦς διδασκαλίας ὁ ἥρως τὴν μνήμην ἀναπεμπασάμενος καὶ τὸν θεοσεβῆ καὶ ἀληθῶς Ἑβραῖον ἔργοις ὁμοῦ καὶ λόγοις ἀποδείξας τὸ μὲν αἰσχρὸν καὶ ἀκόλαστον γύναιον διασείεται, κραταιοτέρᾳ τῇ χειρὶ παραλλάξας, ὥσπερ δέ τινος δεινοῦ καὶ λελυττηκότος θηρὸς ἀποδρὰς φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν 7.8.36 πορίζεται. κἄπειτα αὐτὸς πρὸς ἑαυτὸν σώφρονι λογισμῷ τοιάδε ἐπιλογίζεται καί φησιν· «Εἰ ὁ κύριός μου δι' ἐμὲ οὐδὲν γινώσκει ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶν αὐτῷ δέδωκεν εἰς τὰς χεῖράς μου, καὶ πῶς ποιήσω τὸ πονηρὸν ῥῆμα τὸ μέγα τοῦτο καὶ ἁμαρτήσομαι ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ;» ἐφ' οἷς οἷα νικηφόρον τοῖς ἀρετῆς βραβείοις ἀναστέψας αὐτὸν ὁ τῶν ὅλων θεὸς τὴν κατὰ τῶν δεσποτῶν αὐτῷ καὶ αὐτῆς Αἰγύπτου βασιλείαν τε καὶ ἡγεμονίαν παραδίδωσι· πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ οὗτος Ἑβραῖος ἐξ