A Treatise on Those Special Laws Which Are Contained Under and Have Reference to the Eighth and Ninth, and Tenth Commandments

 I. (1) I have in my previous treatises spoken of the laws relating to adultery and murder, and to all the subordinate offences which come under those

 II. (7) If any one being insanely carried away by a desire for the property of others attempts to steal it, and not being able easily to carry it off

 III. (11) Now other thefts are to be atoned for by a payment of double the value of the thing stolen but if any one steals an ox or a sheep, the law

 IV. (13) A kidnapper also is a thief but he is, moreover, a thief who steals the very most excellent thing that exists upon the earth. Now, in the ca

 V. (20) In the field also, as some one of the old writers has said, lawsuits arise since covetousness and a desire for the possessions of others

 VI. (26) And not only do those men do damage who devour the property of others with their flocks and herds, but so also do those who inconsiderately a

 VII. (30) A deposit is the most sacred of all those things which relate to the associations of men with regard to property, inasmuch as it depends upo

 VIII. (41) This is the ninth of the ten commandments, being the fourth in number of those in the second table but one which is calculated to bestow t

 IX. (55) The law thinks that all those who adhere to the sacred constitution, established by Moses, ought to be free from all unreasonable passions, a

 X. (59) In the first place the law enjoins the judge not to listen to vain Reports.[Ex 23:1.] Why is this? The law says, My good man, let thy ears be

 XI. (62) The second commandment given to a judge is not to receive gifts [Ex 23:8.] for gifts, says the law, blind the eyes that see, and pervert jus

 XII. (70) The third commandment given to a judge is to investigate the transactions themselves, in preference to showing any regard to the parties to

 XIII. (72) And in addition to what has already been said, there is another most admirable precept given which enjoins the judge not to show pity upon

 XIV. (79) Every passion is open to and deserving of blame, inasmuch as every immoderate and violent impulse, and every irrational and unnatural emotio

 XV. (84) So great and so excessive an evil is covetous desire or rather, if I am to speak the plain truth concerning it, it is the source of all evil

 XVI. (95) And the most holy Moses appears to me to have had a regard to all these circumstances, and on that account to have commanded that men should

 XVII. (100) Moreover, Moses has not granted an unlimited possession and use of all other animals to those who partake in his sacred constitution, but

 XVIII. (105) The animals which are clean and lawful to be used as food are ten in number the heifer, the lamb, the goat, the stag, the antelope, the

 XIX. (109) For this reason all animals with solid hoofs, and all with many toes are spoken of by implication as unclean the one because, being so, th

 XX. (110) Having laid down these definitions with respect to land animals, he proceeds to describe what aquatic creatures are clean and lawful to be u

 XXI. (113) And adhering to the same general idea the lawgiver asserts that those reptiles which have no feet, and which crawl onwards, dragging themse

 XXII. (116) Having, therefore, in his ordinances already gone through all the different kinds of land animals and of those who live in the water, and

 XXIII. (119) Moreover, Moses Commands[Le 5:2.] that no man shall take of any dead carcass, or of any body which has been torn by wild beasts partly b

 XXIV. For the essence of the soul of man is the breath of God, especially if we follow the account of Moses, who, in his history of the creation of th

 XXV. (132) This may be sufficient to say, being in fact all that I am able to advance, about the laws which bear on appetite and desire by way of fill

 XXVI. (136) One portion of justice, and that not an unimportant one, relates to courts of justice and to the judge, which indeed I have mentioned befo

 XXVII. (143) The lawgiver also gives this most admirable injunction, that one must not add anything to, or take anything away from the law, but that i

 XXVIII. (149) There is also this commandment ordained which is of great common utility, that, Thou shalt not move thy neighbours' landmarks which the

 XXIX. (151) Some persons have contended that all magistracies ought to have the officers appointed to them by lot which however is a mode of proceedi

 XXX. (157) The all-wise Moses seeing this by the power of his own soul, makes no mention of any authority being assigned by lot, but he has chosen to

 XXXI. (158) And Moses gives also two reasons, on account of which it is not proper for strangers to be elected to situations of authority in the firs

 XXXII. (160) And from the first day on which any one enters upon his office, he orders that he shall write out a copy of the book of the Law[De 17:18.

 XXXIII. (170) And it becomes a man who has been thought worthy of the supreme and greatest authority to appoint successors who may govern with him and

 XXXIV. (176) We have here mentioned one example of what we before alluded to. We must now add an instance of the second kind. I said that the causes o

 XXXV. (183) The law also forbids, by a most just and reasonable prohibition, the man who has undertaken the care and government of the common interest

 XXXVI. (188) Therefore it is right for good rulers of a nation to imitate him in these points, if they have any anxiety to attain to a similitude to G

 XXXVII. (193) Again, merchants and pedlars, and people in the market, and all those who deal in things necessary for life, [Le 19:36.] and who in cons

 XXXVIII. (197) Also this commandment is given with exceeding propriety, [Le 19:14.] which forbids anyone from blaspheming and speaking ill, especially

 XXXIX. (203) After this the lawgiver proceeds to connect with these commandments a somewhat similar harmony or series of injunctions commanding breed

 XL. (208) The commandment which came in the middle of the three injunctions about pairs, was that one was not to sow a vineyard so as to make it bear

 XLI. (219) These, then, are the laws which he appoints to be observed by each individual. But there are other commandments of a more general nature of

 XLII. (230) We have now enumerated the matters which belong to justice but as for justice itself, what poet or orator could celebrate it, in worthy t

XXXII. (160) And from the first day on which any one enters upon his office, he orders that he shall write out a copy of the book of the Law[De 17:18.] with his own hand, which shall supply him with a summary and concise image of all the laws, because he wishes that all the ordinances which are laid down in it shall be firmly fixed in his soul; for while a man is reading the notions of what he is reading fleet away, being carried off by the rapidity of his utterance; but if he is writing they are stamped upon his heart at leisure, and they take up their abode in the heart of each individual as his mind dwells upon each particular, and settles itself to the contemplation of it, and does not depart to any other object, till it has taken a firm hold of that which was previously submitted to it. (161) When therefore he is writing, let him take care, every day, to read and study what he has written, both in order that he may thus attain to a continual and unchangeable recollection of these commands which are virtuous and expedient for all men to observe, and also that a firm love of and desire for them may be implanted in him, by reason of his soul being continually taught and accustomed to apply itself to the study and observance of the sacred laws. For familiarity, which has been engendered by long acquaintance, engenders a sincere and pure friendship, not only towards men, but even also towards such branches of learning as are worthy to be loved; (162) and this will take place if the ruler studies not the writings and memorials of some one else but those which he himself has written out; for his own works are, in a certain degree, more easily to be understood by each individual, and they are also more easily to be comprehended; (163) and besides that a man, while he is reading them, will have such considerations in his mind as these: "I wrote all this; I who am a ruler of such great power, without employing any one else as my scribe, though I had innumerable servants. Did I do all this, in order to fill up a volume, like those who copy out books for hire, or like men who practise their eyes and their hands, training the one to acuteness of sight, and the others to rapidity of writing? Why should I have done this? That was not the case; I did it in order that after I had recorded these things in a book, I might at once proceed to impress them on my heart, and that I might stamp upon my intellect their divine and indelible characters: (164) other kings bear sceptres in their hands, and sit upon thrones in royal state, but my sceptre shall be the book of the copy of the law; that shall be my boast and my incontestible glory, the signal of my irreproachable sovereignty, created after the image and model of the archetypal royal power of God. (165) "And by always relying upon and supporting myself in the scared laws, I shall acquire the most excellent things. In the first place equality, than which it is not possible to discern any greater blessing, for insolence and excessive haughtiness are the signs of a narrow-minded soul, which does not foresee the future. (166) "Equality, therefore, will win me good will from all who are subject to my power, and safety inasmuch as they will bestow on me a just requital for by kindness; but inequality will bring upon me terrible dangers, and these I shall escape by hating inequality, the purveyor of darkness and wars; and my life will be in no danger of being plotted against, because I honour equality, which has no connection with seditions, but which is the parent of light and stability. (167) Moreover, I shall gain another advantage, namely, that I shall not sway this way and that way, like the dishes in a scale, in consequence of perverting and distorting the commandments laid down for my guidance. But I shall endeavour to keep them, going through the middle of the plain road, keeping my own steps straight and upright, in order that I may attain to a life free from error or misfortune." (168) And Moses was accustomed to call the middle road the royal one, inasmuch as it lay between excess and deficiency; and besides, more especially, because in the number three the centre occupies the most important place, uniting the extremities on either side by an indissoluble chain, it being attended by these extremities as its bodyguards as though it were a king. (169) Moreover, Moses says that a longenduring sovereignty is the reward of a lawful magistrate or ruler who honours equality, and who without any corruption gives just decisions in a just manner, always studying to observe the laws; not for the sake of granting him a life extending over many years, combined with the administration of the commonwealth, but in order to teach those who do not understand that a governor who rules in accordance with the laws, even though he die, does nevertheless live a long life by means of his actions which he leaves behind him as immortal, the indestructible monuments of his piety and virtue.