For some entrusted the authority of government to monarchies, others to the rule of a few, and others to the multitudes; but our lawgiver had regard for none of these whatsoever, but rather, as one might say by straining the term somewhat, declared the constitution to be a theocracy, ascribing the sovereignty and the power to God, and persuading all to look to him as the one responsible for all good things, both those which exist commonly for all mankind and those which they themselves obtained by asking in circumstances of helplessness; and it is not possible for anything done, nor anything one might think within oneself, to escape his knowledge.
But he declared him to be both unbegotten and unchangeable through eternal time, surpassing in beauty every mortal form, known to us by his power, but as to what he is according to his essence, unknowable.
That the wisest among the Greeks came to think this way about God, because he provided them the starting-points for it, I leave aside for now to say; but they have testified strongly that these things are good and fitting to the nature and majesty of God: for indeed Pythagoras and Anaxagoras and Plato, and the philosophers of the Stoa who came after him, and nearly all of them, appear to have thought in this way concerning the nature of God.
But these, philosophizing to a few, did not dare to declare the truth of their doctrine to the multitudes, held fast as they were by popular opinions; whereas our lawgiver, since he made his deeds harmonious with his laws, not only persuaded those of his own time, but also implanted an unshakeable faith concerning God in all those who would ever be born from them thereafter.
The reason is that in the manner of his legislation he far surpassed all others in usefulness. For he did not make piety a part of virtue, but rather he recognized and established the other virtues as parts of piety - I mean justice, temperance, endurance, and the harmony of citizens with one another in all things.
There are two ways of all education and of the formation of character, one of which is instruction by word, the other through the practice of habits. Now the other lawgivers differed in their opinions, and each chose the one that seemed best to them and neglected the other: for instance, the Lacedaemonians and Cretans educated by customs, not by words, while the Athenians and nearly all the other Greeks prescribed by laws what must or must not be done, but neglected to accustom people to these by practice.
But our lawgiver combined both of these with great care; for he neither left the training of character mute, nor did he leave the reasoning that arises from the law without practice, but beginning immediately from the very first matter - the manner of nourishment and each person's household way of life - he left nothing, not even the smallest details, to be self-determined according to the wishes of those who would use them, but he himself set the law as the boundary and rule even concerning what foods one must abstain from and what one may take, and concerning those who share one's manner of life, and the intensity of labors and, conversely, of rest - so that, living as it were under this law as under a father and master, we might sin neither willingly nor through ignorance.
For he did not leave room even for the plea of ignorance, but showed the law to be the most excellent and most necessary instruction - not for those who hear it once, nor twice, nor several times, but he commanded that every week, setting aside their other work, they should gather for the hearing of the law and learn it thoroughly; a thing which, indeed, all other lawgivers seem to have neglected.
And most of mankind are so far from living according to their own laws that they scarcely even know them; but when they transgress, then they learn from others that they have broken the law. Even those who administer the greatest and most authoritative offices among them confess their ignorance; for they appoint as overseers of the management of affairs those who profess to have experience of the laws.
But among us, whomever one might choose, one could more easily recite all the laws than say his own name. Therefore, having learned them thoroughly from our very first perception, we hold them in our souls as though engraved. And the transgressor is rare, but escape from punishment is impossible.
This, first of all things, has produced in us a wonderful unanimity. For to hold one and the same opinion concerning God, and to differ from one another in nothing regarding manner of life and customs, produces the most excellent harmony in the character of men.
For among us alone one will not hear accounts about God contradicting one another, such as are common among others - for it is not only ordinary people who speak according to whatever emotion happens to befall each of them, but even some among the philosophers have dared such things, some having undertaken in their arguments to do away with the whole nature of God, others taking away from him providence on behalf of mankind; nor will one see any difference in the pursuits of life, but the works are common to all among us, and there is one doctrine concerning God, in harmony with the law, declaring that he watches over all things.
Moreover, concerning the practices of life, that all other things must have piety as their end, one might hear this even from women and household servants. From this indeed the accusation brought against us by some - namely, that we have not produced men who were inventors of new works or ideas - has arisen.
For others consider it good not to abide by any of their ancestral customs, and they attribute a mastery of wisdom to those who dare most boldly to transgress these; but we, on the contrary, have supposed that wisdom and virtue consist in this alone: to do or think absolutely nothing contrary to what was legislated from the beginning.
This might reasonably be a proof that the law has been laid down most excellently. For as to things not of this character, experience, needing correction, exposes their faults; but for us, who are persuaded that the law was laid down from the beginning according to the will of God, it would not even be pious any longer not to keep it.
For what could one alter of it? Or what better thing could one discover, or bring over from others as an improvement? Would it be the whole constitution of the government? And what could be more excellent or more just than that constitution which has made God the leader of the universe, which entrusts to the priests in common the administration of the greatest matters, and which has in turn entrusted to the high priest of all the leadership over the other priests?
These men the lawgiver did not appoint to this honor at the very outset on the basis of wealth or any other kind of advantage, but rather he entrusted the service of God to those among his followers who surpassed the others in persuasiveness and self-control.
And this was precise diligence both concerning the law and the other pursuits; for indeed the priests were appointed as overseers of all things, judges of disputed matters, and punishers of the condemned.
What government, then, could be more holy than this? And what honor could be more fitting for God? With the whole multitude being disposed toward piety, and the priests entrusted with special diligence, the entire commonwealth is administered as though it were some sacred rite.
For what others, practicing for the number of a few days only, are unable to keep - calling them mysteries and sacred rites - these we keep with great delight and with unwavering resolve throughout the whole of our lives.
What then are the precepts and proclamations? They are simple and well known. The first leads the way, speaking concerning God: God possesses all things, perfect and blessed, self-sufficient to himself and to all; he is the beginning, the middle, and the end of all things; manifest in his works and gracious gifts, and more evident than anything whatsoever, yet in form and magnitude most invisible to us.
All matter, in relation to making an image of him, however costly it may be, is worthless; all art, in relation to the conception of imitating him, is without skill; we have neither seen nor can conceive anything like him, nor is it lawful even to imagine it.
We see his works: light, heaven, earth, sun and moon, waters, the generation of living creatures, the yielding of fruits. These things God made, not with hands, not with toils, not needing anyone to labor for him, but by his willing them to be good, they were immediately made good.
There is one temple of the one God (for like is ever dear to like), common to all, of the God who is common to all. This the priests serve continually; and the first among them, always by lineage, leads them. He, together with his fellow priests, shall sacrifice to God, shall guard the laws, shall judge disputed matters, and shall punish those who are convicted. Whoever does not obey him shall pay the penalty, as one who is impious toward God himself.
We offer sacrifices not for our own satiety and drunkenness (for these things are unwished-for by God, and might become an occasion for insolence and extravagance), but in a sober, orderly, and modest manner, so that especially in sacrificing we may be self-controlled. And at sacrifices one must pray first for the common salvation, then for oneself (for we have come into being for fellowship); and whoever prefers this to his own private concern would be most pleasing to God.
Let entreaty to God be made through prayer and supplication, not that he may give good things (for he has of his own accord already given them and set them out for all in common), but that we may be able to receive them, and having received them, may keep them.
The law has prescribed purifications for sacrifices, from mourning, from childbed, from intercourse with a woman, and from many other things which it would be tedious to write of now.
Such, then, is our doctrine concerning God and his service; and it is at the same time also law. What, then, are the laws concerning marriage? The law recognizes only intercourse with a woman according to nature, and this only if it is to take place for the sake of children; but it abhors intercourse of males with males, and death is the penalty if anyone should attempt it.
It commands men to marry, not paying regard to dowry, nor by violent seizure, nor again by persuading through guile and deceit, but by asking in betrothal from him who has authority to give her, and one suitable by kinship. A woman, it says, is inferior to a man in all things; therefore let her be obedient, not for the sake of insult, but that she may be ruled; for God gave dominion to the man.
The man who has married must live with this woman alone; to make an attempt on another's wife is unholy. If anyone should do this, there is no exemption from death — neither if he should violate a virgin betrothed to another, nor if he should seduce a married woman.
It commanded that all children be reared. And it forbade women either to abort what has been conceived or to destroy it; but if she should be found doing so, she would be a child-murderer, for she destroys a soul and diminishes the race.
Accordingly, not even one who has come to the loss of the marriage-bed [i.e., through miscarriage] is thereby fitting to be counted clean at that time. And after the lawful intercourse of man and wife, it required washing, holding that this involves a certain separation of the soul toward another region. For indeed the soul, being implanted in bodies, suffers hardship there, and again is separated from them by death. For this reason it appointed purifications for all such matters.
Nor indeed did it permit the holding of feasts at the births of children, nor the making of these occasions for drunkenness, but it appointed a sober beginning of upbringing from the very start, and commanded that children be taught letters concerning the laws, and come to know the deeds of their forefathers — the good deeds so that they might imitate them, and being brought up together with the laws, so that they might neither transgress them nor have any excuse of ignorance.
It provided beforehand for the observance due to the dead, not through the extravagance of funeral rites, nor through the construction of conspicuous monuments, but it appointed that matters concerning the burial be carried out by the closest relatives, and made it a rule that all who pass by while someone is being buried should come near and join in the lamentation. And it commands that the house and its inhabitants be purified from the mourning, so that anyone who has committed murder should be as far as possible from seeming to be clean.
It ranked the honor due to parents second after that due to God, and it hands over to be stoned the one who does not repay the favors received from them, but who is deficient in any respect.
It does not permit hiding anything from friends, for friendship that does not entrust everything is no friendship at all; and even if some enmity should arise, it has forbidden the disclosure of what was told in confidence between them.
If a judge should take bribes, death is the penalty. Whoever disregards a suppliant, when it was in his power to help, is liable. No one shall take up what he did not deposit. No one shall lay hold of anything belonging to another. He who lends shall not take interest. These things, and many others like them, hold together our mutual fellowship with one another.
It is worth seeing how the lawgiver also thought concerning fairness toward foreigners; for he will be seen to have made the best possible provision of all, that we should neither corrupt what is our own nor bear ill will toward those who choose to share in what is ours.
As many as wish to come and live under the same laws as we do, he receives kindly, holding that kinship consists not in race alone, but also in the choice of one's way of life; but those who approach only incidentally, he was unwilling to have mingled into our customary company.
But he has also prescribed other things whose sharing is necessary: to provide fire, water, and food to all who are in need; to show the roads to travelers; not to disregard an unburied corpse.
It has also been judged that we should be fair even in our dealings with enemies; for it does not allow the burning of their land, nor has it permitted the cutting down of fruit-bearing trees; but it has also forbidden the stripping of those fallen in battle, and it has taken forethought for captives, that outrage be kept far from them, especially in the case of women.
So earnestly, and from so far off, did he strive to teach us gentleness and humanity that he did not even neglect the irrational animals, but permitted only their lawful use, and forbade every other use of them. Those which flee for refuge to our houses, as though supplicating, he has forbidden us to kill; nor has he permitted the taking of the parent birds together with their young; and he requires us to spare even the working animals in enemy territory, and not to slaughter them.
Thus, from every side, he took careful thought for equity, employing on the one hand the aforementioned laws for the purpose of instruction, and on the other appointing punitive laws against transgressors, not without reason. For in the case of most transgressions the penalty is death — if a man commits adultery, if he violates a young girl, if he dares to make an attempt upon a male, or if the one who is so tempted submits to suffer it.
The law is likewise inexorable also in the case of slaves. Moreover, concerning measures, if anyone should commit fraud, or concerning weights, or concerning an unjust sale made by deceit, and if anyone should steal what belongs to another, or take up what he did not deposit, there are punishments for all these things, not such as exist among other peoples, but far more severe. For concerning wrongdoing against parents, or impiety toward God, even one who merely intends it perishes at once.
For those, indeed, who do everything according to the laws, the reward is not silver, nor gold, nor even a crown of wild olive or of parsley, nor any such public proclamation, but each one, having his own conscience bearing witness to him, has come to believe (since the lawgiver prophesied it, and God gave the pledge firm assurance) that to those who have kept the laws faithfully, even if they must die for them, God has granted, when they willingly die, to come into being again and to receive a better life in a cycle of return.
I would hesitate to write these things now, were it not that it is evident to all through the facts themselves that many of our people, and often already, have chosen nobly to suffer everything rather than utter a single word contrary to the law. And indeed, if it had not happened that our nation was known to all mankind, and that our willing adherence to our laws lay open for all to see, but rather someone, claiming to have composed such an account, had read it aloud himself to the Greeks, or had said that he came upon it somewhere outside the known world, telling of men who held so lofty an opinion concerning God, and who had remained faithfully attached to such laws for so long an age — I think everyone would have marveled, because of the continual changes that occur among them; indeed, they even accuse those who have attempted to write something similar concerning a constitution and laws, as though they had composed marvels, saying that they have taken up impossible premises.
And I pass over the other philosophers, as many as have treated of any such matter in their writings; but Plato, who is admired among the Greeks as having excelled in dignity of life, and as having surpassed by the power and persuasiveness of his speech all who have appeared in philosophy, continues to be nearly mocked and made a subject of comedy by those who claim to be skilled in political affairs.
And yet one might find it much easier, and much closer to the customs of the many, to mock his proposals often. Plato himself, indeed, admitted that it was not safe to bring forth the true opinion concerning God to the folly of the masses.
But some consider the words of Plato to be empty, elegantly composed with great license. Above all lawgivers they have admired Lycurgus, and everyone extols Sparta, because it persevered in his laws for the longest time.
Well then, let this at least be agreed, that obedience to the laws is a proof of virtue. But let those who admire the Lacedaemonians compare their duration of time — the Lacedaemonians existed for less than the more than two thousand years of our own constitution; and let them further consider that the Lacedaemonians, for as long a time as they held their freedom in their own power, seemed to keep their laws precisely; but when changes of fortune came upon them, they nearly forgot all their laws. We, however, though we have passed through countless vicissitudes of fortune because of the changes among those who ruled over Asia, have not betrayed our laws even in the most extreme of dangers.
These, then, are the things Josephus also says concerning the constitution of the Jews according to Moses. But concerning the shadowed and allegorical theory contained in the laws laid down by him, though I have much to say, I consider the accounts of Eleazar and Aristobulus sufficient — men who were, the one, of Hebrew descent from of old, the other distinguished in the times of the Ptolemies.
Of these, Eleazar, who was also honored with the dignity of the high priesthood, was made known to us a little earlier — he who, to those who had come to him from the king on an embassy concerning the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, sketched out the manner of the allegorized meaning contained in the sacred laws, and has thus given the following teaching in his discourse.
It is worth recalling briefly the things pointed out by him in response to the questions we raised — for many suppose that certain matters in the legislation involve a kind of needless fastidiousness; I mean concerning foods and drinks, and concerning the creatures reckoned to be unclean.
For when we inquired why, since there is but one creation, some things are reckoned unclean for eating, and others even for touching (for they say that the legislation is superstitious in most respects, and in these matters superstitious yet again), he began to answer as follows:
'You observe,' he said, 'our ways of life and associations, and what sort of effect they produce: because, by associating with evil men, people acquire corruptions, and are wretched throughout their whole life; but if they live together with the wise and the prudent, they attain, out of their former ignorance, to a correction of their manner of life.'
Our lawgiver, then, having first set forth distinctly the matters of piety and righteousness, and having taught each point concerning these things, did so not merely by way of prohibition, but by way of demonstration also, making manifest beforehand both the harms and the visitations sent by God upon those responsible.
For, first of all, he demonstrated beforehand that God alone exists, and that his power becomes manifest through all things, every place being filled with his dominion, and that nothing done secretly by men upon earth escapes him — but whatever anyone does is plain to him, as are also the things about to come to pass.
Working out these matters, then, precisely, and setting them forth plainly beforehand, he showed that even if a man merely intends to commit some evil, he would not escape notice — let alone if he actually does it — demonstrating throughout the whole of the legislation the power of God.
Having made this his starting point, then, and having shown that all other men besides ourselves suppose there to be many gods, though they themselves are far more powerful than the things they vainly worship — for having made images out of stones or wood, they say these are likenesses of those who discovered something useful for their life, images to which they bow down, though the very senselessness of these things lies at their feet.
For if one should set this down as reasonable on account of the discovery made by those so honored, it is utterly foolish. For, taking certain things already present in creation, they merely combined them and further showed the most serviceable construction of their devices — they did not themselves create these materials; therefore it is empty and vain to deify men who are merely their equals.
Indeed, even now there are many people more inventive and more learned than those men of former times, and yet these moderns would never think of worshipping them.
And those among the Greeks who have fashioned and mythologized such things are held to be the wisest. But why need one speak of the other, wholly vain, nations, the Egyptians and their like, who have placed their reliance upon beasts, and upon most of the reptiles and other creatures, and worship these, and sacrifice to them both while they are alive and after they are dead?
Having, then, considered each of these things together, our lawgiver, being wise, and having been prepared by God for the full knowledge of all things, fenced us about with unbroken palisades and walls of iron, so that we should mingle with none of the other nations in any respect, remaining pure in body and in soul, released from vain opinions, worshipping the only God who is powerful above the whole of creation.
Hence the leading priests of the Egyptians, who have looked deeply into many matters and have had experience of many affairs, call us 'men of God' — a title that does not belong to the rest, unless someone truly worships the true God; but the rest are men of food and drink and shelter, for their whole disposition takes refuge in these things.
But among our people, these things are reckoned as nothing at all; rather, their consideration is fixed, throughout their whole life, upon the power of God. So then, in order that we should not become corrupted by mingling with anyone, or by associating with what is base, they have fenced us about on every side with purifications, both through food and drink, and through touch, hearing, and legally regulated sight.
For, in general, all things are alike in relation to the natural order, being governed by one single power, and each thing, taken singly, has a profound rationale — both those things from which we abstain in use, and those which we make common use of.
For the sake of an example, I will run briefly over one or two points and explain them to you. Do not fall into that debased notion, that Moses legislated these things out of a fussy concern for flies and weasels or things of that sort; rather, all these matters have been solemnly ordained for the sake of righteousness, with a view to a pure inquiry and to the perfecting of one's character.
For, of the birds which we make use of, all are tame, and are distinguished by cleanliness, feeding on wheat and pulse for their food — such as doves, turtledoves, locusts, partridges, and further geese and other such creatures. But among the birds which are forbidden, you will find the wild and carnivorous ones, which tyrannize over the rest by the power they have over them, and which have as their food the devouring of the aforementioned tame creatures, done with injustice. And not only this, but they also seize lambs and kids, and do wrong to human beings too, both the dead and the living.
Through these things, then, he set up a token, calling them unclean, so that those for whom the legislation is ordained should, in their souls, practice righteousness, and oppress no one by relying on their own strength, nor take away anything from anyone, but should govern their lives from a most righteous manner of living — just as the tame creatures among the aforementioned birds consume the pulse that grows upon the earth, and do not tyrannize, for the purpose of destruction, either over those weaker than themselves or over their own kin.
Through these things, then, the lawgiver handed down, as a sign to the intelligent, that they should be just, and accomplish nothing by force, nor, relying on the strength that is theirs, oppress others.
For where it was not even fitting to touch the aforementioned creatures, on account of the disposition attaching to each of them, how much more must one guard entirely against one's own character being broken down into such conduct?
All the things permitted, then, concerning these birds and the animals as well, he has set forth by way of allegory. For to be cloven-hoofed, and to have the claws of the hoof divided, is a sign of distinguishing each of one's actions with a view to what is right.
For the strength of the whole body, together with its active power, rests upon the shoulders and the legs. By signifying this through these things, then, he compels us to accomplish everything with a view to righteousness, by way of distinction — and moreover also because we have been set apart from all other men.
For most of the rest of mankind defile themselves by promiscuous intercourse, thereby accomplishing great injustice, and whole countries and cities even take pride in these practices. For they not only have relations with males, but also defile their own mothers, and even their daughters as well. But we have been set apart from all these things.
And in the same connection in which the aforementioned manner of distinction consists, he has also given a mark of the matter of memory. For all the creatures that are cloven-hoofed and chew the cud clearly set forth, to those who understand, the concept of memory. For rumination is nothing other than a recollection of life and of one's constitution.
For he holds that life consists through nourishment. Therefore he exhorts, through the scripture, saying thus: 'You shall surely remember, in remembrance, the Lord your God, who has done great and marvelous things in you.'
For, when considered, they appear glorious: first, the structure of the body, and the management of nourishment, and the differentiation with regard to each part; and much more, the ordered arrangement of the senses, the activity of the mind, its invisible motion, the keenness with which it acts toward each particular thing, and the discovery of the arts — all of this comprises a manner beyond limit.
Therefore he exhorts us to keep this in remembrance, namely, how the aforementioned things are preserved, being held together by divine power. For he has set a fixed limit to every place and time, so that we might, in everything, remember God who rules over all, while preserving the beginnings, the middles, and the ends of things.
For indeed, in the case of foods and drinks, he commands that, having first offered the first-fruits, we should then immediately partake of them together. Moreover, from our garments too he has given us a mark for remembrance; likewise also, concerning our cities and dwellings, for the sake of shelter, he has commanded us to place the sacred words upon our gates and doors, that there might be a remembrance of God. And upon our hands too he expressly commands that the sign be bound, clearly showing that every deed must be done with righteousness, keeping in mind our own formation, and above all, the fear of God.
He commands that, whether lying down or rising up or walking, we meditate on the works of God — not in word only, but observing with understanding our own movement, and the state of ourselves when we go to sleep, and our waking, how divine and incomprehensible is the transition involved in these.
It has also been shown to you how excellent is this teaching concerning distinction and remembrance, as we set forth the cloven hoof and the chewing of the cud. For it has not been legislated at random and according to whatever occurred to the mind, but for the sake of truth and as a mark of right reason.