A Treatise on the Meeting for the Sake of Seeking Instruction.

 I. (1) But Sarah the wife of Abraham had not borne him any child. And she had an Egyptian handmaiden, who name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abraham

 II. (5) But neither is wealth, which it is not possible to employ, of any advantage to its possessors, nor is the fertility of wisdom of any service t

 III. (9) On this account he does not say that Sarah did not bring forth at all, but only that she did not bring forth for him, for Abraham. For we are

 IV. (13) And here it is worth while to admire wisdom, by reason of its modesty, which has not thought fit to reproach us with the slowness of our gene

 V. (20) Now the first characteristics of the intermediate instruction are represented by two symbols, the race and the name. As to race, the handmaide

 VI. But if any one, having determined on perseveringly enduring labours in the cause of virtue, devotes himself to continued study, practising and med

 VII. (34) But these men were husbands of many wives and concubines, not only of such as were citizens, as the sacred scriptures tell us. But Isaac had

 VIII. (39) Now recollection only comes in the second rank after memory, as inferior to it and he who recollects is inferior to him who remembers for

 IX. (45) The name Nachor, being interpreted, means a rest from light and Milcah means princess and Rumah means she who sees something. Therefo

 X. (50) And he takes Milcah for his wife, not being some queen who by the dispensations of fortune governs some nation of men, or some city, but only

 XI. (54) Now the wicked also have a desire for concubines, that is, for vain opinions and doctrines accordingly Moses tells us that Thimna, the concu

 XII. (58) There is also in another place the following sentence deeply engraven: When the Most High came down to scatter the nations, as he dispersed

 XIII. (63) The connection therefore between the reason which is devoted to contemplation and those powers which are citizen wives, or concubines, has

 XIV. (71) Therefore, continues the sacred historian, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, having taken Hagar, the Egyptian woman, her own handmaiden, ten years

 XV. (81) Again, she gives Hagar to him, not the first moment that he arrives in the country of the Canaanites, but after he has abode there ten years.

 XVI. (85) But these are the different countries of each respective nature passions, that is to say, Egypt, being the country of the age of childhood

 XVII. (89) But the sons of the musicians have accurately and carefully investigated the question respecting the decade and the most sacred Moses has

 XVIII. (95) But also it is expressly ordered, that men should offer as first fruits the tenths, not only of animals, but also of all the things which

 XIX. (102) Very appropriately, therefore, in the case of sacrifices also, the tenth part of the measure of fine wheat flour will be brought upon the a

 XX. (110) From which consideration it appears to me to have been, that Moses, after the appointment of chiliarchs, or commanders of thousands, and of

 XXI. (114) Something of this kind, now, is the contribution made by the princes, selected and appointed with reference to worth and merit, which they

 XXXII. (121) Very naturally, therefore, is the connection of Abraham with Hagar, placed at the end of ten years after his arrival in the land of the C

 XXIII. (124) But there are times when virtue, as if making experiment of those who come to her as pupils, to see how much eagerness they have, does no

 XXIV. (131) In this manner also the seeds of the legitimate wisdom, which exists among men, were sown, For there was, says the same historian, a ma

 XXV. (139) And do not suppose that Hagar is represented as beholding herself as pregnant, by the words, seeing that she had conceived, but as behold

 XXVI. (146) And yet even this is not unknown to any one, namely, that philosophy has bestowed upon all the particular sciences their first principles

 XXVII. (151) On which account, being elated and proud, they disregard the mistress to whom in reality the authority and the complete confirmation of t

 XXVIII. (158) On which account the historian presently adds, And she afflicted her an expression equivalent to, she admonished and corrected her. F

 XXIX. (163) It is for this reason that the law, as it appears to men, was given in a place which is called Bitterness for to do wrong is pleasant, bu

 XXX. (168) This unleavened cake is so sacred that it is enjoined in the holy scriptures, to place in the innermost part of the temple, on the golden

 XXXI. (175) Thus, therefore, there is a certain description of affliction which is profitable, so that its very most humiliating form, even slavery, i

XIII. (63) The connection therefore between the reason which is devoted to contemplation and those powers which are citizen wives, or concubines, has here been explained to the best of my power. We must now proceed to investigate what follows, and endeavour to frame a proper connection for an argument. "Abraham," says the sacred historian, "listened to the voice of Sarah."[Ge 16:2.] For it is necessary for him who is a learner to be obedient to the injunctions of virtue: (64) but yet all men are not so obedient, but only those who are inspired with an exceedingly vehement love for knowledge. Since almost every day the places where there is anything to hear and the theatres are crowded, and those who study philosophy go on without ever stopping to take breath in one long continued discussion about virtue. (65) But still what advantage is derived from all that is said? For men, instead of attending, turn their mind in other directions, some to marine and mercantile affairs, others to rents and agriculture; some to public honours and affairs of state, some to the gains to be derived from each different profession and art, others to revenging themselves upon their enemies, others again to the enjoyments to be derived from the indulgence of the amorous appetites, and in short every body is under the influence of some distracting idea or other; so that, as far as the subjects of the discussion are concerned, they are completely deaf, and are present with their bodies only, but are at a distance as to their minds, being in no particular different from images or statues. (66) And if any persons do attend, they sit all that time only listening, and when they have departed they do not recollect a word of what has been said, but they have come in fact rather to be pleased through the medium of their hearing than with the view of deriving any solid advantage; so that their soul has not been able to comprehend anything or to become pregnant with any new idea, and even the cause which at first excited their pleasure soon ceases and their attention is extinguished. (67) There is a third kind of persons to whom what is said is for a time attended to and remembered, as if still sounding in their ears; but still they are found to be sophists rather than philosophers: of these men the language indeed is praiseworthy but the life is blameable; for they are powerful at speaking, but have no ability to do what is best. (68) It is therefore hardly possible to find a man who is inclined to attend and endowed with a good memory, honouring deeds rather than words; as is testified to in the praise of the man fond of hearing in the words, "He listened to the voice of Sarah." For he is not represented merely as hearing but also as listening to: and this last is a particularly felicitous expression to indicate one who approves of and is influenced by what he hears. (69) And the expression, "to the voice," is not inconsiderately or incorrectly used in preference to saying--he listened to Sarah speaking. For it is the especial character of a learner to listen to the voice and words of his teacher; for by these alone is he taught. But he who acquires what is good by practice, and solitary meditation, and not by instruction, does not attend to what is said but rather to those who say it, imitating the lives of those men in their actions which are in each particular irreproachable. (70) For it is said, in the case of Jacob when he was sent away to form a marriage among his kinsmen, "Jacob listened to his mother and his father, and went into Mesopotamia."[Ge 28:7.] He listened not to their voice, nor to their words, for it was fitting that he who was an imitator of their actions should be a practiser of virtue not a listener to speeches. For this is the peculiar character of one who is being taught, but the other is the mark of one who is enduring labours, in order that from this instance we may comprehend the difference between a practiser and a learner, the one being regulated with regard to him who is speaking, and the other with regard to his speech.