Therefore, let such a man be himself likened to images carved by the hand; for it ought not to be that that man should have any soul himself who honours things destitute of soul or life, and especially after he has been a disciple of Moses, whom he has often heard announcing to him and under the influence of divine inspiration declaring those most sacred and holy admonitions, "Take not the name of any other gods into thy soul for a remembrance of them, and utter not their names with thy voice, but keep both thy mind and thy speech far from all other interpositions, and turn them wholly to the Father and Creator of the universe, that thus thou mayest cherish the most virtuous and godly thoughts about his single government, and mayest speak words that are becoming and most profitable both to thyself and to those that hear thee." Exodus xxiii, 18.
Section 2.257
We have now then mentioned the punishments which are ordained against those who neglect the five commandments. But the rewards which are offered to those who keep them, even though the law has not set them forth in express words of injunction, are nevertheless figuratively intimated.
Section 2.258
Therefore the fact of not thinking that there are any other gods but the true God, nor imagining that things made by the hand of man are gods, and the fact of not committing perjury, are things which have no need of any other reward, for the mere fact, in my opinion, of practising these virtues is itself a most excellent and most perfect reward. For at what circumstance can a lover of truth feel more really delighted than at the devotion of himself to one God, and attending in a guileless and pure manner to his service?
Section 2.259
And when I speak of witnesses, I mean not such persons as are slaves to pride, but such as are devoted to an admiration of goodness free from all error, by whom the truth is honoured. For wisdom itself is the reward of wisdom; and justice, and each of the other virtues, is its own reward. And truth, as being the most beautiful in the whole company, and as being the chief of all the holy virtues, is in much greater degree its own recompense and reward, affording as it does happiness to all who practise it, and blessings of which they cannot be deprived to their children and descendants.
Section 2.260
Again, those who properly keep the sacred sabbath are benefited in two most important particulars, both body and soul; as to their body, by a rest from their continual and incessant labours; and as to their soul, by forming most excellent conceptions respecting God as the Creator of the universe and the careful protector of all the things and beings which and whom he has made. And he made the whole universe in one week. It is plain, therefore, from these things that the man who honours the seventh day will himself find honour. Exodus xxiii, 18.
Section 2.261
In the same way let not him who honours his parents dutifully seek for any further advantage, for if he considers the matter he will find his reward in his own conduct. Not but what, since this commandment is inferior in importance to the first five commandments, which have a more divine character, inasmuch as this is concerned with mortal subjects, God has given an inducement to obey this one, saying, "Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thy days may be long in the land;" Exodus xx. 12.
Section 2.262
affixing thus two rewards to this injunction, one being in fact the participation in virtue, for "well" means virtue, or at least cannot subsist without virtue; while the other is, if one is to say the truth, immortality by length of days, and a life of long duration, which thou wilt preserve even in the body living with thy soul, purified with a perfect purification. These things have now been discussed at sufficient length. Let us after this, since the opportunity offers, consider the commandments in the second table.
Section 3.1
A TREATISE ON THOSE SPECIAL LAWS WHICH ARE REFERRIBLE TO TWO COMMANDMENTS IN THE DECALOQGUE, THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH, AGAINST ADULTERERS AND ALL LEWD PERSONS, AND AGAINST MURDERERS AND ALL VIOLENCE.
in Yonge, this is "A TREATISE ON THOSE SPECIAL LAWS WHICH ARE REFERRIBLE TO TWO COMMANDMENTS IN THE DECALOQGUE, THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH, AGAINST ADULTERERS AND ALL LEWD PERSONS, AND AGAINST MURDERERS AND ALL VIOLENCE." There was once a time when, devoting my leisure to philosophy and to the contemplation of the world and the things in it, I reaped the fruit of excellent, and desirable, and blessed intellectual feelings, being always living among the divine oracles and doctrines, on which i fed incessantly and insatiably, to my great delight, never entertaining any low or grovelling thoughts, nor ever wallowing in the pursuit of glory or wealth, or the delights of the body, but I appeared to be raised on high and borne aloft by a certain inspiration of the Exodus xx. 12. soul, and to dwell in the regions of the sun and moon, and to associate with the whole heaven, and the whole universal world.
Section 3.2
At that time, therefore, looking down from above, from the air, and straining the eye of my mind as from a watch-tower, I surveyed the unspeakable contemplation of all the things on the earth, and looked upon myself as happy as having forcibly escaped from all the evil fates that can attack human life.
Section 3.3
Nevertheless, the most grievous of all evils was lying in wait for me, namely, envy, that hates every thing that is good, and which, suddenly attacking me, did not cease from dragging me after it by force till it had taken me and thrown me into the vast sea of the cares of public politics, in which I was and still am tossed about without being able to keep myself swimming at the top.
Section 3.4
But though I groan at my fate, I still hold out , and resist, retaining in my soul that desire of instruction which has been implanted in it from my earliest youth, and this desire taking pity and compassion on me continually raises me up and alleviates my sorrow. And it is through this fondness for learning that I at times lift up my head, and with the eyes of my soul, which are indeed dim (for the mist of affairs, wholly inconsistent with their proper objects, has overshadowed their acute clear-sightedness), still, as well as I may, I survey all the things around me, being eager to imbibe something of a life which shall be pure and unalloyed by evils.
Section 3.5
And if at any time unexpectedly there shall arise a brief period of tranquillity, and a short calm and respite from the troubles which arise from state affairs, I then rise aloft and float above the troubled waves, soaring as it were in the air, and being, I may almost say, blown forward by the breezes of knowledge, which often persuades me to flee away, and to pass all my days with her, escaping as it were from my pitiless masters, not men only, but also affairs which pour upon me from all quarters and at all times like a torrent.