Philo: Questions and Answers on Genesis, I

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON GENESIS, I*

(1) Why does Moses, revolving and considering the creation of the world, say: "This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were created?" (#Ge 2:4). The expression, "when they were created," indicates as it seems an indeterminate time not accurately described. But this argument will confute those authors who calculate a certain number of years reduced to one, from the time when it is possible that the world may have been created. And again, the expression: "This is the book of the generation," is as it were indicative of the book as it follows, which contains an account of the creation of the world; in which it is intimated that what has been related about the creation of the world is consistent with strict truth.

(2) What is the object of saying, "And God made every green herb of the field, before it was upon the earth, and every grass before it had sprung up?" (#Ge 2:5). He here by these expressions intimates in enigmatical language the incorporeal species; since the expression, "before it was upon the earth," indicates the arriving at perfection of every herb, and of all seeds and trees. But as to what he says, that "before it had sprung up upon the earth," he had made every green herb, and grass, et caetera, it is plain that the incorporeal species, as being indicative of the others, were created first, in accordance with intellectual nature, which those things which are upon the earth perceptible to the outward senses were to imitate.

(3) What is the meaning of saying: "A fountain went up from the earth, and watered all the face of the earth?" (#Ge 2:6). But here the question is how it could be that the whole earth was watered by one fountain, not only on account of its size, but also because of the inequality of the mountainous and champaign situations? Unless, indeed, just as the whole force of the king's cavalry is called "the horse," so the whole multitude of the veins of the earth which supply drinkable water, may perhaps be called the fountain, inasmuch as they all bubble up like a fountain. And that expression is peculiarly appropriate which says that the fountain watered, not the whole earth, but its face; as in the living being it waters the chief and predominant part (the mind or the countenance). Since that is the most important part of the earth which can be good and fertile and productive, and that is the part which stands in need of the nourishment of fountains.

(4) What is the man who was created? And how is that man distinguished who was made after the image of God? (#Ge 2:7). This man was created as perceptible to the senses, and in the similitude of a Being appreciable only by the intellect; but he who in respect of his form is intellectual and incorporeal, is the similitude of the archetypal model as to appearance, and he is the form of the principal character; but this is the word of God, the first beginning of all things, the original species or the archetypal idea, the first measure of the universe. Moreover, that man who was to be created as a vessel is formed by a potter, was formed out of dust and clay as far as his body was concerned; but he received his soul by God breathing the breath of life into his face, so that the temperament of his nature was combined of what was corruptible and of what was incorruptible. But the other man, he who is only so in form, is found to be unalloyed without any mixture proceeding from an invisible, simple, and transparent nature.

(5) Why is it said that God breathed into his face the breath of life? (#Ge 2:7). In the first place because life is the principal part of the body; for the rest was only made as a sort of foundation or pedestal, and then life was put upon it as a statue. Besides, the sense is the fountain of the animal form, and sense resides in the face. Secondly, man is created to be a partaker not only of a soul but also of a rational soul; and the head is the temple of the reason, as some writers have called it.

(6) Why is God said to have planted a Paradise? And for whom? And what is meant by a paradise? (#Ge 2:8). The word paradise, if taken literally, has no need of any particular explanation; for it means a place thickly crowded with every kind of tree; but symbolically taken, it means wisdom, intelligence both divine and human, and the proper comprehension of the causes of things; since it was proper, after the creation of the world, to establish a contemplative system of life, in order that man, by the sight of the world and of the things which are contained in it, might be able to attain to a correct notion of the praise due to the Father. And since it was not possible for him to behold nature herself, nor properly to praise the Creator of the universe without wisdom, therefore the Creator planted the outlines of it in the rational soul of the principal guide of man, namely the mind, as he planted trees in the paradise. And when we are told that in the middle was the tree of life, that means the knowledge not only of the creature, but also of the greater and supreme cause of the universe; for if any one is able to arrive at a certain comprehension of that, he will be fortunate and truly happy and immortal. Moreover, after the creation of the world human wisdom was created, as also after the creation of the world the Paradise was planted; and so the poets say that the chorus of musicians was established in order to praise the Creator and his works; as Plato says, that the Creator was the first and greatest of causes, and that the world was the most beautiful of all creatures.

(7) Why in Adin, or Eden, is God said to have planted the Paradise towards the east? (Genesis 2:8). This is said in the first place because the motion of the world proceeds from the rising of the sun to its setting. And it first exists in that quarter from which it is moved; secondly, because that part of the world which is in the region of the east is called the right side; and that which is in the region of the west is called the left side of the world. Moreover the poet bears witness to this, calling the birds from the east dexteras or right, and those on the west sinistras or left;

when he says, whether they go to the right to the day and to the sun, or whether they go to the left towards the dusky evening. But the name Eden, when rightly understood, is an indication of all kinds of delights, and joys, and pleasures; since all good things and all blessings derive their beginning from the place of the Lord. Thirdly, because wisdom itself is splendour and light.

(8) Why did God place man whom he had created in the Paradise, but not that man who is after his own image? (#Ge 2:15). Some persons have said, when they fancied that the Paradise was a garden, that because the man who was created was endowed with senses, therefore he naturally and properly proceeded into a sensible place; but the other man, who is made after God's own image, being appreciable only by the intellect, and invisible, had all the incorporeal species for his share; but I should rather say that the paradise was a symbol of wisdom, for that created man is a kind of mixture, as having been compounded of soul and body, having work to do by learning and discipline; desiring according to the law of philosophy that he may become happy; but he who is according to God's own image is in need of nothing, being by himself a hearer, and being taught by himself, and being found to be his own master by reason of his natural endowments.

(9) Why does Moses say that every tree in the Paradise was beautiful to look upon and good to eat? (#Ge 2:9). He says this because the virtue of trees is of a twofold nature, consisting in bearing leaves and fruit, one of which qualities is referred to the pleasing of the sight, the other to the gratification of the taste; but the word beautiful was not employed inappropriately. Indeed it is very proper that the plants should be always green and flourishing perpetually, as belonging to a divine Paradise, which as such must be everlasting; and it is fit too that they should never degenerate so as to lose their leaves. But of the fruit he says, not that it was beautiful, but that it was good, speaking in a very philosophical spirit; since men take food, not only because of the pleasure which it affords, but also because of its use; and use is the flowing forth and imparting of some good.

(10) What is meant by the tree of life, and why it was placed in the middle of the Paradise? (#Ge 2:9). Some people have believed that, if there were really plants of a corporeal and deadly nature, there are also some which are causes of life and immortality, because, they say, life and death are opposed to one another, and because some plants are ascertained to be unwholesome, therefore of necessity there must be others from which health may be derived. But what these are which are wholesome they know not; for generation, as the opinion of the wise has it, is the beginning of corruption. But perhaps we ought to look on these things as spoken in an allegorical sense; for some say the tree of life belongs to the earth, inasmuch as it is the earth which produces everything which is of use for life, whether it be the life of mankind or of any other animal; since God has appointed the situation in the centre for this plant, and the centre of the universe is the earth. There are others who assert that what is meant by the tree of life is the centre between the seven circles of heaven; but some affirm that it is the sun which is meant, as that is nearly in the centre, between the different planets, and is likewise the cause of the four seasons, and since it is owing to him that every thing which exists is called into existence. Others again understand by the tree of life the direction of the soul, for this it is which renders the sense nervous and solid, so as to produce actions corresponding to its nature, and to the community of the parts of the body. But whatever is in the middle is in a manner the primary cause and beginning of things, like the leader of a chorus. But still, the best and wisest authorities have considered that by the tree of life is indicated the best of all the virtues of man, piety, by which alone the mind attains to immortality.

(11) What is meant by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (#Ge 2:9). This indeed exhibits that meaning which is sought for in the letter of the Scriptures more clearly to the sight, as it bears a manifest allegory on the face of it. What is meant then under this figure is prudence, which is the comprehension of science, by which all things are known and distinguished from one another, whether they be good and beautiful, or bad and unseemly, or in short every sort of contrariety is discerned; since some things belong to the better class, and some to the worse. Therefore the wisdom which exists in this world is not in truth God himself, but the work of God; that it is which sees and thoroughly investigates every thing. But the wisdom which exists in man sees in an incorrect and mixed manner with somewhat darkened eyes; for it is found to be incompetent to see and comprehend clearly and without alloy each particular thing separately. Moreover, there is a kind of deception mingled with human wisdom; since very often there are some shadows found which hinder the eyes from contemplating a brilliant light; since what the eye is in the body, such also is the mind and wisdom in the soul.

(12) What the river is which proceeded out of Adin by which the Paradise is watered, and from which the four rivers proceed, the Phison, and the Gihon, and the Tigris, and the Euphrates? (#Ge 2:10). The sources of the Deglath and of the Arazania, that is to say of the Tigris and Euphrates, are said to arise in the mountains of Armenia; but there is no paradise there at this day, nor do both the sources of both these rivers remain there. Perhaps, therefore, we ought to consider that the real situation of the Paradise is in a place at a distance from this part of the world which we inhabit, and that it has a river running beneath the earth. which pours forth many veins of the largest size; so that they, rising up together, pour themselves forth into other veins, which receive them on account of their great size, and then those have been suppressed by the gulfs of the waves; on which account, through the impulse given to them by the violence which is implanted in them, they burst out on the face of the earth in other places, and also among others in the mountains of Armenia. Therefore, those things which have been accounted the sources of the rivers, are rather their flowing course; or again, they may be said to be correctly looked upon as sources, because by all means we must consider the holy scriptures infallible, which point out the fact of four rivers; for the river is the beginning, and not the spring. But perhaps this passage also contains an allegorical meaning; for the four rivers are the signs of four virtues: Phison being the sign of prudence, as deriving its name from parsimony;