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

XIV. (71) Therefore, continues the sacred historian, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, having taken Hagar, the Egyptian woman, her own handmaiden, ten years after Abraham had begun to dwell in the land of Canaan, gave her to Abraham her "husband, to be his Wife."[Ge 16:3.] Wickedness is by nature an envious, and bitter, and evil-disposed thing, but virtue is gentle, and inclined to communion, and friendly; wishing in every possible manner to benefit those who are well disposed, either by its own power or by the means of others. (72) So now accordingly, as we are not able to become the fathers of children by prudence, she espouses us to her own handmaiden, encyclical instruction, as I have said before, and all but endures to be the bridesmaid and manager of the marriage; for it is said that Sarah herself took this woman and gave her to her own husband. (73) And here it is worth while to raise the question why it is that now again Moses calls the wife of Abraham Sarah, when he had already repeatedly told us what her name was before; for he was not a writer who ever indulged in that worst description of prolixity, tautology. What, then, are we to say? Since she is about to betroth to him the handmaiden of wisdom, encyclical instruction, he says that she did not forget the duty which she owed to her mistress, but knew that she was, both in law and in her master's feelings, his wife, and that she herself was only such because of necessity and the force of opportunity. And this happens to every man who is fond of learning. And he who has experienced it may be looked upon as the most trustworthy witness to this fact. (74) At all events I, when I was first excited by the stimulus of philosophy to feel a desire for it, when I was very young connected myself with one of her handmaidens, namely, grammar; and all the offspring of which I became the father by her, such as writing, reading, and the acquaintance with the works of the poets and historians, I attributed to the mistress. (75) And at a subsequent time, forming connection with another of her handmaidens, geometry, and admiring her beauty (for she had beautiful symmetry and proportions in all her parts), I still appropriated none of the offspring, but carried them to the citizen wife, and bestowed them on her. (76) I was desirous also to form a similar connection with a third, and she was full of good rhythm, well arranged, and well limbed, and was called music. And by her I became the parent of diatonic, and chromatic, and harmonic, and combined and separate melodies, and all the different concords belonging to fourths and to fifths, and to the diapason. And, again, I concealed none of all these things, in order that my legitimate citizen wife might become wealthy, being ministered unto by a multitude of ten thousand servants; (77) for some men, being attracted by the charms of handmaidens, have neglected their true mistress, philosophy, and have grown old, some in poetry, and others in the study of painting, and others in the mixture of colours, and others in ten thousand other pursuits, without ever being able to return to the proper mistress; (78) for each act has its own peculiar brillliancies, certain attractive powers, by which some persons are allured and overcome, forgetting all the covenants which they have made with philosophy; but he who abides by the agreements which he has made, provides every thing from all quarters with a view to pleasing her. Very appropriately, therefore, does the sacred scripture, admiring his good faith in respect of his legitimate wife, say that even now Sarah was his true wife, inasmuch as he only took his handmaid into his bed out of complaisance towards her; (79) and, indeed, in the same manner as the encyclical branches of education contribute to the proper comprehension of philosophy, so also does philosophy aid in the acquisition of wisdom; for philosophy is an attentive study of wisdom, and wisdom is the knowledge of all divine and human things, and of the respective causes of them. Therefore, just as encyclical accomplishments are the handmaidens of philosophy, so also is philosophy the handmaiden of wisdom; (80) but philosophy teaches temperance with regard to the belly, and temperance with regard to the parts below the belly, and also temperance and restraint of the tongue. Now these qualities are said to be worthy of praise for their own sakes, but they would appear more respectable still if they were cultivated for the sake of doing honour to and giving pleasure to God. We must, therefore, always remember the legitimate mistress when we are about to espouse her handmaidens; and let us be said indeed to be the husbands of the latter, but still let our legitimate mistress be our real wife, and not merely called such.