---
title: "The Special Laws — Books I–IV"
author: "Philo of Alexandria"
translator: "C. D. Yonge"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Second Temple"
section: 49 of 80
url: https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg024-yonge-ogl/49/
cite: "Philo of Alexandria, tr. C. D. Yonge, The Special Laws — Books I–IV, section 49. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg024-yonge-ogl/49/"
---

# The Special Laws — Books I–IV

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

## 49. Section 3.58

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg024-yonge-ogl/49/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/philo-tlg024-yonge-ogl/49/#p-N

[¶0] Then the law proceeds to say, the priest, having taken an earthen vessel, shall pour forth pure water, having drawn it from a fountain, and shall also bring a lump of clay from the ground of the temple, which also I think has in it a symbolical reference to the search after truth; for the earthenware vessel is appropriate to the commission of adultery because it is easily broken, and death is the punishment appointed for adulterers; but the earth and the water are appropriate to the purging of the accusation, since the origin, and increase, and perfection of all things, take place by them:

### Section 3.59

[¶2] on which account it was very proper for the law-giver to set them both off by epithets, saying, that the water which the priest was to take must be pure and living water, since a blameless woman is pure as to her life, and deserves to live; and the earth too is to be taken, not from any chance spot, but from the soil of the ground of the temple, which must, of necessity, be most excellent, just as a modest woman is.

### Section 3.60

[¶4] And when all these things are previously prepared, the woman with her head uncovered, bearing the barley flour in her hand, as has been already specified, shall come forward; and the priest standing opposite to her and holding the earthenware vessel in which are the water and the earth, shall speak thus:

### Section 3.61

[¶6] "If you have not transgressed the laws of your marriage, and if no other man has been associated with you, so that you have not violated the rights of him who is joined to you by the law, you are blameless and innocent; but if you have neglected your husband and have followed empty appetites, either loving some one yourself or yielding to some lover, betraying your nearest and dearest connections, and adulterating them by a spurious mixture, then learn that you are deservedly liable to every kind of curse, the proofs of which you will exhibit on your body. Come then and drink the draught of conviction, which shall uncover and lay bare all thy hidden and secret actions."

### Section 3.62

[¶8] Then the priest shall write these words on a paper and dip it in the water which is in the earthenware vessel, and give it to the woman. And she shall drink it and depart, awaiting the reward of her modesty or the extreme penalty of her incontinence; for if she has been falsely accused she may hope for seed and children, disregarding all apprehensions and anxieties on the subject of barrenness and childlessness. But if she is guilty then a great weight and bulk, form her belly swelling and becoming full, will come upon her, and a terribly evil condition of her womb will afflict her, since she did not choose to keep it pure for her husband, who had married her according to the laws of her nation.

### Section 3.63

[¶10] And the law takes such exceeding pains to prevent any irregularity taking place with respect to marriages, that even in the case of husbands and wives who have come together for legitimate embraces, in strict accordance with the laws of marriage, after they have arisen from their beds it does not allow them to touch anything before they have had recourse to washings and ablutions; keeping them very far from adultery and from all accusations referring to adultery.

### Section 3.64

[¶12] But if any one should offer violence to a widow after her husband is dead, or after she has been otherwise divorced from him, and defile her, committing a lighter offence than adultery, and one that may perhaps be about half as serious, he shall not indeed be liable to the punishment of death, but he shall be impeached for violence, and insolence, and intemperance, having thus adopted the most infamous conduct as if it had been the most creditable; and the tribunal of the judge shall decide and condemn him to the penalty that he deserves to suffer.

### Section 3.65

[¶14] Again, seduction is an offence which is similar and nearly related to adultery, as they are both sprung from one common mother, incontinence. But some of those persons who are accustomed to dignify shameful actions by specious names, call this love, blushing to confess the real truth concerning its character. But, nevertheless, though it may be akin to it, it is not in every respect similar to it, because it is an offence that does not spread so as to affect many families, as is the case with adultery, but it is limited to one house alone, that of the virgin who has been seduced.

### Section 3.66

[¶16] Therefore we must say to a man who desires to enjoy a virgin who is a free-born citizen, "My good man, rejecting your shameless rashness and audacity, the sources of treachery and faithlessness, and all such feelings, do not allow yourself to be discovered to be wicked, either openly or secretly,

### Section 3.67

[¶18] but if, indeed, you have any legitimate feeling of love for the maiden in your soul, go to her parents, if they are alive, and if they are not, then go to her brother or to her guardians, or to any other persons who chance to be her protectors, and having discovered to them your feelings towards her, as a free-born man should do, ask her in marriage, and implore them not to account you unworthy.

### Section 3.68

[¶20] "For no one of those who have the guardianship of the maiden entrusted them could be so base as to oppose an earnest and persevering entreaty, and especially as to refuse you since you, would be found, by strict examination, not to have falsely pretended a passion which you do not feel, or to have conceived only a superficial love for her, but one which is genuine and thoroughly established." Deuteronomy xxii. 18.

### Section 3.69

[¶22] But if any one, being insane and frantic, repudiating and discarding all the suggestions of reason, were to submit himself wholly to passion and desire as his masters, and looking, as people say, on might as stronger than right, were to ravish and seduce women, treating free-born women as slaves, and doing acts of war in time of peace, let such a man be led before the judges.

### Section 3.70

[¶24] And if the damsel who has been forced has a father, let him take counsel and deal with the ravisher about espousing her; then if he refuse to do so, he shall give the damsel a dowry for another husband, being fined in a sum of money sufficient for this purpose. But if he consents and registers her as his wife, let him marry her at once without any delay, confessing a second time that he owes her the same dowry, and let him have no permission to delay or evade the fulfilment of this marriage; both because Deuteronomy xxii. 18. of his own conduct, in order that the mishap which took place respecting her first connection with a man may be comforted by a firm marriage, which nothing shall ever separate but death.