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

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 man of the tribe of Levi, named Amram, who took to wife one of the daughters of Levi, and had her, and she conceived and brought forth a male child; and seeing that he was a goodly child they concealed him for three Months."[Ex 2:1.] (132) This is Moses, the purest mind, the child that is really goodly; the child that received at the same time all legislative and prophetic skill by the means of inspired and heaven-bestowed wisdom; who, being by birth a member of the tribe of Levi, and being flourishing both in the things relating to his mother and in those affecting his father, clings to the truth; (133) and the greatest profession ever made by the author and chief of this tribe is this, for he makes bold to say, that "the only God is alone to be honoured by me;" and nothing besides of all the things that are inferior to Him, neither earth, nor sea, nor rivers, nor the nature of the air, nor the nature of the winds, nor the changes of the atmosphere, nor the appearances of any animals or plants, nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the multitude of the stars moving in well-arranged revolutions, nor the whole heaven, nor the entire world. (134) This is a boast of a great and magnanimous soul, to rise above all creation, and to overleap its boundaries, and to cling to the great uncreated God alone, according to his sacred commands, in which we are expressly enjoined "to cleave unto Him."[De 30:20.] Therefore he, in requital, bestows himself as their inheritance upon those who do cleave unto him, and who serve him without intermission; and the sacred scripture bears its testimony in behalf of this assertion, where it says, "The Lord himself is his Inheritance."[De 10:9.] (135) Thus the souls which are already pregnant are naturally likely to bring forth children, rather than those which are now receiving the seed. But as the eyes of the body do oftentimes see obscurely, and often on the other hand see clearly, so in the same manner does the eye of the soul, at times, receive the particular impressions conveyed to it by things in a most confused and indistinct manner, and at other times it beholds them with the greatest purity and clearness; (136) therefore an indistinct and not clearly manifested conception resembles an embryo which has not yet received any distinct character or similitude within the womb: but that which is clear and distinctly visible, is like one which is completely formed, and which is already fashioned in an artistic manner as to both its inward and its outward parts, and which has already received its suitable character. (137) And with respect to these matters the following law has been enacted with great beauty and propriety: "If while two men are fighting one should strike a woman who is great with child, and her child should come from her before it is completely formed, he shall be muleted in a fine, according to what the husband of the woman shall impose on him, and he shall pay the fine deservedly. But if the child be fully formed, he shall pay life for Life."[Ex 21:22.] For it was not the same thing, to destroy a perfect and an imperfect work of the mind, nor is what is only likened by a figure similar to what is really comprehended, nor is what is only hoped for similar to what really exists. (138) On this account, in one case, an uncertain penalty is affixed to an uncertain action; in another, a definite punishment is enacted by law against an act which is perfected, but which is perfected not with respect to virtue, but with reference to what is done in an irreproachable manner, according to some act. For it is not she who has just received the seed, but she who has been for some time pregnant, who brings forth this offspring, professing boasting rather than modesty. For it is impossible that she who has been pregnant some time should miscarry, since it is fitting that the plant should be conducted to perfection by him who sowed it; but it is not strange if some mishap should befall the woman who was pregnant, since she was afflicted with a disease beyond the art of the physician.