The good man, then, alone sees; in reference to whom the ancients also called the prophets, seers. 1 Samuel ix. 9. But he who advanced further outwards, not only seeing, but seeing God, was called Israel; the meaning of which name is, "seeing God." But others, even if they ever do open their eyes, still bend them down towards the earth, pursuing only earthly things, and being bred up among material objects;
Section 79
for the one raises his eyes to the sky, beholding the manna, the divine Genesis xv. 5. Deut. xxviii. 12. 1 Samuel ix. 9. word, the heavenly, incorruptible food of the soul, which is food of contemplation: but the others fix their eyes on garlic and onions, food which causes pain to the eyes, and troubles the sight, and makes men wink, and on other unsavoury food, of leeks, and dead fish, the appropriate provender of Egypt.
Section 80
"For," says the scripture, "we remembered the fish which we ate in Egypt without payment, and the gourds, and the cucumbers, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our soul is dry, and our eyes behold nothing but manna." Numbers xi. 5.
Section 81
And the statement, "He led him out" Genesis xv. 5. (ἐξήγαγεν αὐτὸν ἔξω), has a bearing also on moral considerations, though some persons, through their want of instruction in moral philosophy, are accustomed to ridicule it, saying, "For is any one ever led out in (ἔξω εἰσάγεται), or led in out (εἰσέρχεται ἔξω)?" "Certainly," I would reply, "you ridiculous and very foolish man; for you have never learnt how to trace the dispositions of the soul; but by this language of yours you only seek to understand those motions of bodies which are exerted in change of place. On which account it seems paradoxical to you to speak of any one coming out into (ἐξέρχεται εἴσω), or going in out (ὲξέρχεται ἔξω); but to those acquainted with Moses none of these things seem inconsistent."
Section 82
Would you not say that the perfect high priest when, being in the inmost shrine, he is performing his national sacrifices, is both within and without at the same time? within in respect of his visible body, but without in respect of his soul, which is roaming about and wandering? And again, on the other hand, would you not say that a man who was not of the family consecrated to the priesthood, but who was a lover of God and beloved by God, though standing without the holy shrine, was nevertheless in reality in its inmost parts? looking upon his whole life in the body as a sojourning in a foreign land; but while he is able to live only in the soul, then he thinks that he is abiding in his own country.
Section 83
For every fool is outside of friendship, even though he may not depart for one moment from daily association with people. But every wise man is within friendship, even if he be dwelling at a distance, not merely in a different country, but in another climate and region of the world. But, according to Moses, a friend is so near to one as to differ in no respect from one’s Numbers xi. 5. Genesis xv. 5. own soul, for he says, "the friend who is like thy soul." Deut. xiii. 6.
Section 84
And again he says, "The priest shall not be a man by himself, when he goeth into the holy of holies, until he cometh out;" Leviticus xvi. 17. speaking not with reference to the motions of the body, but to those of the soul; for the mind, while it is offering holy sacrifices to God in all purity, is not a human but a divine mind; but when it is serving any human object, it then descends from heaven and becomes changed, or rather it falls to the earth and goes out, even though the mind may still remain within.
Section 85
Very correctly, therefore, it is said, he led him out (ἐξήγαγεν ἔξω) of the prison according to the body, of the caves existing in the external senses, of the sophistries displayed in deceitful speech; and beyond all this, out of himself and out of the idea that by his own self-exerted, self-implanted, and independent power he was able to conceive and comprehend.
Section 86
And after he has conducted him out, he says to him, "Look up to heaven, and count the stars, if thou art able to number them; thus shall be thy seed." Genesis xv. 5. He says very beautifully, "Thus shall be thy seed," not so great shall it be, equal in number to the stars; for he does not intend here to allude to their multitude only, but also to an infinite number of other circumstances which contribute to entire and perfect happiness.
Section 87
"Thus shall thy seed be," says God, as the ethereal firmament which thou beholdest, so heavenly, so full of unshadowed and pure brilliancy (for night is driven away from heaven, and darkness from virtue,) most thoroughly like the stars, beautifully adorned, having an arrangement which knows no deviation, but which is always the same and proceeding in the same way.
Section 88
For he means him to speak of the soul of the wise man as a copy of heaven, or, if one may use such a hyperbolical expression, as an actual heaven upon earth, having pure appearances in the air, and well arranged motions, and harmonious progress, and periodical revolutions of divine character, star-like and brilliant rays of virtue. But if it is impossible to find out the number of the stars which are perceptible by the outward senses, how much more so must it be to count those which are discernible only by the intellect?
Section 89
for in proportion, I suppose, as that which judges is better or worse than that which is judged of (for the mind is Deut. xiii. 6. Leviticus xvi. 17. Genesis xv. 5. better than the outward sense, and the outward sense is duller than the intellect; in the same ratio do the subjects of the judgment differ; so that the objects of the intellect are infinitely superior to those of the outward senses; for the eyes in the body are the smallest imaginable portion of the eye of the soul; for the one is like the sun, but the others only resemble lamps, which are at one time lighted and at another extinguished.
Section 90
Therefore that is a necessary addition which is subjoined, "Abraham believed in God," Genesis xv. 6. to the praise of him who did thus believe. And yet, perhaps, some one may say, "Do you judge this worthy of praise? who would not give his attention to God when saying or promising anything, even if he were the most wicked and impious of all men?"