A Treatise on Three Virtues, That Is To Say, On Courage, Humanity, and Repentance.

 I. (1) Having previously said all that appeared to be necessary about justice, and those precepts which are closely connected with it, I now proceed i

 II. (5) Moreover, there is also no small number of other things in human life which are confessed to be very difficult to endure, such as poverty, and

 III. (8) We have then before now described that wealth which is the guard of the body, being the thing discovered by and bestowed on men by nature bu

 IV. (18) But such great anxiety and energy is displayed by the law in attaining the object of training and exercising the soul so as to fill it with c

 V. (22) Moreover, as the affairs of men are usually looked at with reference to two different times, that of peace and that of war, one can see that t

 VI. (31) Therefore our lawgiver does not think it proper to include those men, or any in a similar condition, in the roll of his soldiers, but only su

 VII. (34) And the sacred volumes contain the most undeniable proofs of what has been here stated. The most numerous of all nations is that of the Arab

 VIII. (43) These men, then, being arrayed against them, a small number against many myriads of men, and availing themselves of their skill, and exerti

 IX. (51) We must now proceed in due order to consider that virtue which is more nearly related to piety, being as it were a sister, a twin sister, nam

 X. (55) And the clearest proof of what I have said may be afforded by the following consideration. He had a friend and pupil, one who had been so almo

 XI. (66) This, now, is the first and most conspicuous proof of his great humanity and good faith towards and affection for all those of his own people

 XII. (76) And when he had finished his hymn of melodious praise, which was thus in a manner woven together and made up of piety and humanity, he began

 XIII. (80) We have now, then, spoken of the proofs of the humanity of the lawgiver, which he displayed by the admirable disposition of his own excelle

 XIV. (82) Therefore Moses forbids a man to lend on usury to his brother, [De 23:19.] meaning by the term brother not only him who is born of the same

 XV. (88) Again, among the different commands which conduce to the extension of humanity, there is this one also established, [Le 19:13.] that every em

 XVI. (89) Again, the lawgiver says, let no one who lends on usury enter the house of his debtors to take by force any security or pledge for his debt,

 XVII. (90) And who is there who can avoid admiring the proclamation or commandment about reapers and gatherers of the fruit of the Vineyard?[De 24:19.

 XVIII. (95) The laws Command[De 24:4.] that the people should offer to the priests first fruits of corn, and wine, and oil, and of their domestic floc

 XIX. (97) Again. Are not all the enactments about the seventh year so formally established, enjoining the people to leave all the land that year fallo

 XX. (102) Moreover, after the lawgiver has established commandments respecting one's fellow countrymen, he proceeds to show that he looks upon strange

 XXI. (105) Moreover, extending and carrying further that humanity which is naturally so attractive, he also gives commandments respecting sojourners,

 XXII. (109) These, then, are the ordinances which he enacts for the sojourners in respect of those who have received them into their land, and he also

 XXIII. (116) And thus the lawgiver pouring precept after precept into ready and obedient ears, enjoins Humanity.[Ex 23:5.] Moreover, even if any beast

 XXIV. (121) The ordinances, then, which he laid down for the observance of free-born men are these and others like them. And as it seems he also has e

 XXV. (125) These, then, are the ordinances which he appoints to be observed concerning one's own relations, and strangers, and friends, and enemies, a

 XXVI. (134) And being desirous to implant the seeds of gentleness and humanity in the minds of men, by every kind of expedient imaginable, he adds als

 XXVII. (145) I also greatly admire that law which, like a singer in a well-trained chorus, is perfectly in accord with those which have gone before it

 XXVIII. (148) And, being full of mercy in every part, he again displays it in an abundant and exceeding degree, crossing over from the beings endowed

 XXIX. (150) And, going beyond all other lawgivers in humanity, he does not allow his people even to ravage the country of their enemies, but he comman

 XXX. (161) Having, then, by such precepts as these, civilised and made gentle the minds of those who live under the constitution of his laws, he has s

 XXXI. (165) And still more does he seek to check and eradicate haughtiness, choosing to collect together the causes on account of which he enjoins men

 XXXII. Since then you have received strength from a being who is more powerful than you, give others a share of that strength, distributing among them

 XXXIII. (175) The most holy Moses, being a lover of virtue, and of honour, and, above all things, of the human race, expects all men everywhere to sho

 XXXIV. (180) We have now then described the first and most important of the considerations which belong to repentance. And let a man repent, not only

 XXXV. (187) We ought to rebuke in no measured language those who celebrate nobility of birth as the greatest of all blessings, and the cause also of g

 XXXVI. (192) And it is for this reason, as it appears to me, that some most affectionate fathers disown and disinherit their sons, cutting them off fr

 XXXVII. (199) Again, who is there who would deny that those men who were born of him who was made out of the earth were noble themselves, and the foun

 XXXVIII. (206) But, however, let these men be set down as common rules and limits for all men, in order to prevent them from priding themselves on the

 XXXIX. (211) These men therefore are both of that class which is open to reproach men whom, as they showed themselves wicked men, though descended fr

 XL. (220) This nobleness has been an object of desire not only to God-loving men, but likewise to women, who have discarded the ignorance in which the

 XLI. (226) We must not, therefore, give in to those persons who seek to creep stealthily into the possession of a property belonging to others, namely

XXVI. (134) And being desirous to implant the seeds of gentleness and humanity in the minds of men, by every kind of expedient imaginable, he adds also another injunction akin to the preceding one, forbidding any one to sacrifice the mother and the offspring on the same day, for even if they are both to be sacrificed, still it must be at different times, for it is the greatest extravagance of barbarity to slay in one day the animal which has been born and her who is the cause of its birth. (135) And for what object is this done? one is slain on pretence of sacrifice, the other for the gratification of the belly. If then it is on pretence of offering them in sacrifice, then the very name is given with falsehood; for animals taken for such purpose are victims, not Sacrifices.[the Greek is sphagia, not thysia.] And what altar of God would ever receive such unholy sacrifices? And as for the fire, would it not of its own accord divide itself in two parts and stand asunder, avoiding all the contamination which might arise from any contact with such a profane thing? I imagine that it would not have remained, no, not for even the briefest time, but would have been immediately extinguished, out of a watchful care that the air, and the most holy nature of the Spirit, should not be polluted by the ascending flames. (136) And if they are not taken to be offered in sacrifice, but with a view to feast on them, then who can there be who would not loathe and reject all these new and unprecedented kinds of preposterous gluttony? for such men are, indeed, pursuing pleasures which are out of all reason. And what pleasure can it be to men who are eating meat, to devour, on the same occasion, the flesh of the others and of their offspring? And if any one were to desire to mangle the limbs of the two animals together, and to run them in a spit and to roast them, and so to devour them, I do believe that the very limbs themselves would not remain quiet, but would be filled with indignation and would utter speech, through their fury at the extraordinary character if the unprecedented injury done to them, and would revile, with innumerable reproaches for their gluttony, those men who had thus prepared this unmentionable banquet. (137) But the law banishes to a distance from the sacred precincts all animals which are pregnant, not permitting them to be sacrificed until they have brought forth, looking on the animals which are still in the womb as equal to what has just been born; not because those which have never yet come to light are really looked upon as of equal importance with living creatures, but this ordinance is given to banish to a distance the rashness of those persons who are in the habit of confounding everything; (138) for if animals, which grow and increase like plants, and which are considered to be as it were parts of the mothers which have conceived them, being still united to them, and being destined hereafter, after an appointed period of months, to be separated from the close connection to which they are at present attached, are, because of the hope that at some future time they may become living creatures, preserved at present by the safety thus guaranteed to their mothers, in order that the aforesaid pollution may not come to pass; how can it be that the animals, when brought forth, shall not be preserved in a still greater degree, which in their own proper persons have received the gift of life and body? for it is the most impious of all customs, to slay both offspring and mother at one time and on one day. (139) And it appears to me that some lawgivers, having started from this point, have also promulgated the law about condemned women, which commands that pregnant women, if they have committed any offence worthy of death, shall nevertheless not be executed until they have brought forth, in order that the creature in their womb may not be slain with them when they are put to death. (140) But these men have established these enactments with reference to human beings, but this lawgiver of ours, going beyond them all, extends his humanity even to brute beasts, in order that ... we being accustomed to practise all the things ordained in his laws, may display an excessive degree of humanity, abstaining from pursuing any one, or even from annoying them in retaliation for any annoyance which we have received at their hands, and that we may not store up in secret our own good things, so as to keep them to ourselves, but may bring them into the middle, and offer them freely to all men everywhere, as if they were our kinsmen and our natural brothers. (141) Moreover, let wicked sycophants calumniate the whole nation as one given to inhumanity, and our laws as enjoining unsociable and inhuman observances, while the laws do thus openly show compassion on even the herds of cattle, and while the whole nation from its earliest youth is, as far as the disobedient nature of their souls will admit of, brought over by the honest admonitions of the law to a peaceable disposition. (142) And our lawgiver endeavours to surpass even himself, being a man of every kind of resource which can tend to virtue, and having a certain natural aptitude for virtuous recommendations; for he commands that one shall not take an animal from the mother, whether it be a lamb, or a kid, or any other creature belonging to the flocks or herds, before it is weaned. And having also given a command that no one shall sacrifice the mother and the offspring on the same day, he goes further, and is quite prodigal on the particularity of his injunctions, adding this also, "Thou shalt not seethe a lamb in his mother's Milk."[exodus 23:19.] (143) For he looked upon it as a very terrible thing for the nourishment of the living to be the seasoning and sauce of the dead animal, and when provident nature had, as it were, showered forth milk to support the living creature, which it had ordained to be conveyed through the breasts of the mother, as if through a regular channel, that the unbridled licentiousness of men should go to such a height that they should slay both the author of the existence of the other, and make use of it in order to consume the body of the other. (144) And if any one should desire to dress flesh with milk, let him do so without incurring the double reproach of inhumanity and impiety. There are innumerable herds of cattle in every direction, and some are every day milked by the cowherds, or goatherds, or shepherds, since, indeed, the milk is the greatest source of profit to all breeders of stock, being partly used in a liquid state and partly allowed to coagulate and solidify, so as to make cheese. So that, as there is the greatest abundance of lambs, and kids, and all other kinds of animals, the man who seethes the flesh of any one of them in the milk of its own mother is exhibiting a terrible perversity of disposition, and exhibits himself as wholly destitute of that feeling which, of all others, is the most indispensable to, and most nearly akin to, a rational soul, namely, compassion.