---
title: "Allegorical Interpretation — Books I–III"
author: "Philo of Alexandria"
translator: "C. D. Yonge"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Second Temple"
section: 31 of 37
url: https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg002-yonge-ogl/31/
cite: "Philo of Alexandria, tr. C. D. Yonge, Allegorical Interpretation — Books I–III, section 31. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg002-yonge-ogl/31/"
---

# Allegorical Interpretation — Books I–III

*Philo of Alexandria, tr. C. D. Yonge*

## 31. Section 3.170

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg002-yonge-ogl/31/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg002-yonge-ogl/31/#p-N

[¶0] And this word is not apparent in every place, but wherever there is a vacant space, void of passions and vice; and it is subtle both to understand and to be understood, and it is exceedingly transparent and clear to be distinguished, and it is like coriander seed. And agriculturists say that the seed of the coriander is capable of being cut up and divided into innumerable pieces, and if sown in each separate piece and fragment, it shoots up just as much as the whole seed could do. Such also is the word of God, being profitable both in its entirety and also in every part, even if it be ever so small.

### Section 3.171

[¶2] May it not be also likened to the pupil of the eye? For as that, being the smallest portion of the eye, does nevertheless behold the entire orbs of existing things and the boundless sea, and the vastness of the air, and the whole immeasurable space of heaven, which the sun, whether rising in the east or setting in the west, can bound; so also is the word of God, very sharp-sighted, so as to be capable of beholding every thing, and by which all things that are worth seeing can be beheld, in reference to which fact it is white. For what can be more brilliant or visible at a greater distance than the divine word, by participation in which all other things can repel mists and darkness, being eager to share in the light of the soul?

### Section 3.172

[¶4] There is a certain peculiarity which is attached to this word. For when it calls the soul to itself, it excites a congealing power in everything which is earthly, or corporeal, or under the influence of the external senses. On which account it is said to be like the hoar-frost on the earth.Exodus vi. 16. For when the man who beholds God, meditates a flight from the passions, the waves are frozen, that is to say, the impetuous rush, and the increase, and the haughty pride of the waves are arrested, in order that he who might behold the living God might then pass over the passion.Exodus xvi, 15.

### Section 3.173

[¶6] Therefore the souls inquire of one another, those, that is, that have clearly felt the influence of the word, but which are not able to say what it is. For very often, when sensible of a sweet taste, we are nevertheless ignorant of the flavour which has caused it, and when we smell sweet scents, we still do not know what they are. And in the same manner also the soul very often, when it is delighted, is yet unable to explain what it is that has delighted it; but it is taught by the hierophant and prophet Moses, who tells it, This is the bread, the food which God has given for the soul,Exodus xvi. 15. explaining that God has brought it, his own word and his own reason; for this bread which he has given us to eat is this word of his.

### Section 3.174

[¶8] He says also in Deuteronomy, And he has humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knowest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.Deuteronomy vii. 3. Now this ill-treating and humbling of them is a sign of his being propitiated by them, for he is propitiated as to the souls of us who are wicked on the tenth day. For when he strips us of all our pleasant things, we appear to ourselves to be ill-treated, that is in truth to have God propitious to us.

### Section 3.175

[¶10] And God also causes us hunger, not that which proceeds from virtue, but that which is engendered by passion and vice. And the proof of this is, that he nourishes us with his own word, which is the most universal of all things, for manna being interpreted, means what? and what is the most universal of all things; for the word of God is over all the world, and is the most ancient, and the most universal of all the things that are created. This word our fathers knew not; I speak not of those who are so in truth, but of those who are grey with age, who say, Let us give them a guide, and let us turn backNumbers xiv. 1. unto passion, that is to say, to Egypt.

### Section 3.176

[¶12] Therefore, let God enjoin the soul, saying to it that, Man shall not live by bread alone, speaking in a figure, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, that is to say, he shall be nourished by the whole word of God, and by every portion of it. For the mouth is the symbol of the language, and a word is a portion of it. Accordingly the soul of the more perfect man is nourished by the whole word; but we must be contented if we are nourished by a portion of it.

### Section 3.177

[¶14] But these men pray to be nourished by the word of God: but Jacob, raising his head above the word, says that he is nourished by God himself, and his words are as follows: The God in whom my father Abraham and Isaac were well-pleased; the God who has nourished me from my youth upwards to this day; the angel who has delivered me from all my evils, bless these children.Genesis xlviii. 15. This now being a symbol of a perfect disposition, thinks God himself his nourisher, and not the word: and he speaks of the angel, which is the word, as the physician of his evils, in this speaking most naturally. For the good things which he has previously mentioned are pleasing to him, inasmuch as the living and true God has given them to him face to face, but the secondary good things have been given to him by the angels and by the word of God.

### Section 3.178

[¶16] On this account I think it is that God gives men pure good health, which is not preceded by any disease in the body, by himself alone, but that health which is an escape from disease he gives through the medium of skill and medical science, attributing it to science, and to him who can apply it skilfully, though in truth, it is God himself who heals both by these means, and without these means. And the same is the case with regard to the soul, the good things, namely food, he gives to men by his power alone; but those which contain in them a deliverance from evil, he gives by means of his angels and his word.

### Section 3.179

[¶18] And he uttered this prayer, blaming Joseph the statesman and governor, because he had ventured to say, I will feed them in that land, Genesis xlv. 11. for, hasten ye, said Joseph, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says Joseph, and so on, and presently he adds, Come down unto me, and do not tarry, come with all thou hast, and I will feed thee in that land; for still the famine lasts for five years. Jacob, therefore, speaks as he does reproving and at the same time instructing this imaginary wise man, and he says to him, O my friend, know thou that the food of the soul is knowledge, which it is not the word which is intelligible by the external senses that can bestow, but God only who has nourished me from youth, and from my earliest age till the time of perfect manhood, he shall fill me with it.

### Section 3.180

[¶20] Joseph therefore was treated in the same way with his mother Rachel, for she also thought that the creature had some power; on which account she used the expression, Give me children, but the supplanter, adhering to his proper character, says to her, You have used a great error; for I am not in the peace of God, who alone is able to open the womb of the soul,Genesis xxx 1. and to implant virtues in it, and to cause it to be pregnant, and to bring forth what is good. Consider also the history of thy sister Leah, and you will find that she did not receive seed or fertility from any creature—but from God himself. For the Lord, seeing that Leah was hated, opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. Genesis xxix. 31.

### Section 3.181

[¶22] And consider, now, in this sentence, again, the subtlety of the writer spoken of. God opens the wombs, implanting good actions in them, and the womb, when it has received virtue from God, does not bring forth to God, for the living and true God is not in need of any thing, but she brings forth sons to me, Jacob, for it was for my sake, probably, that God sowed seed in virtue, and not for his own. Therefore, another husband of Leah is found to be passed over in silence, and another father of Leah’s children, for he is the husband who openeth the womb, and he is the father of the children to whom the mother is said to bear them.

### Section 3.182

[¶24] And I will place enmity between thee and between the woman.Genesis iii. 15. In reality, pleasure is hostile to the external sense, although, to some persons, it appears to be especially friendly to it. But as one would not call a flatterer a companion (for flattery is a disease of friendship), nor would one call a courtezan friendly to her lover, for she adheres only to those who give her presents, and not to those who love her; so, also, if you investigate the nature of pleasure, you will find that she has but a spurious connection with the external senses.