Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9223

Philo Of Alexandria, On Drunkenness, 144-152
nan But Samuel was perhaps in reality a man, but he is looked upon not as a compound animal, but as mind rejoicing only in the service and ministrations of God. For the name Samuel, being interpreted, means "appointed to God;" because he looked upon all such actions as are done in accordance with vain and empty opinions to be shameful irregularity.
nan He was born of a human mother, whose name when interpreted means "grace." For without divine grace it is impossible either to abandon the ranks of mortal things, or to remain steadily and constantly with those which are imperishable.
nan But whatever soul is filled with grace is at once in a state of exultation, and delight, and dancing; for it becomes full of triumph, so that it would appear to many of the uninitiated to be intoxicated, and agitated, and to be beside itself. On which account it was said to it by a young boy, and that not by one only but by every one who was old enough for juvenile sauciness and for a readiness to mock at what is good, "How long will you be drunk? Put an end to your wine-bibbing.
nan For in the case of those who are under the influence of divine inspiration, not only is the soul accustomed to be excited, and as it were to become frenzied, but also the body is accustomed to become reddish and of a fiery complexion, the joy which is internally diffused and which is exulting, secretly spreading its affections even to the exterior parts, by which many foolish people are deceived, and have fancied that sober persons were intoxicated.
nan And yet indeed those sober people are in a manner intoxicated, having drunk deep of all good things, and having received pledges from perfect virtue. But those are intoxicated with that drunkenness which proceeds form wine, who pass their whole lives without ever having tasted wisdom, though they have a continued hunger and desire for it.
nan Very naturally therefore is answer made to the man who acts with the impetuosity of youth, and thinks to produce laughter at the venerable and austere mode of life of prudence, "My good man I am a hard woman, a severe day, and I drink no wine or strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord." Very great is the freedom of speech of that soul which is filled with the graces of God.
nan In the first place it calls itself a severe day, having regard to the boy who is mocking it; for by him and by every fool the road which leads to virtue is looked upon as rough and difficult to travel and most painful, as one of the old poets testifies, saying:-- Vice one may take in troops with ease, But in fair virtue's front Immortal God has stationed toil, And care, and sweat, to bar the road. Long is the road and steep, And rough at first, which leads the steps Or mortal men thereto; But when you reach the height, the path Is easy which before was hard, And swift the onward course. XXXVII.
nan After this the soul goes on to deny that it drinks wine or strong drink, boasting in its being continually sober throughout the whole of its life. For to have the reasoning powers really free, and unfettered, and pure, and intoxicated by no passion, was really a very important and admirable thing.
nan And from this it results that the mind which is filled with unmixed sobriety is of itself a complete and entire libation, and is offered as such to and consecrated to God. For what is the meaning of the expression, "I will pour out my soul before the Lord," but "I will consecrate it entirely to him?" Having broken all the chains by which it was formerly bound, which all the empty anxieties of mortal life fastened around it, and having led it forth and emancipated it from them, he has stretched, and extended, and diffused it to such a degree that it reaches even the extreme boundaries of the universe, and is borne onwards to the beautiful and glorious sight of the uncreate God.

Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

7 results
1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, a b c d\n0 "11.30" "11.30" "11 30"\n1 26.8 26.8 26 8 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
2. Hebrew Bible, 1 Samuel, 1.11, 1.14, 1.28 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) 1.11. וַתִּדֹּר נֶדֶר וַתֹּאמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אִם־רָאֹה תִרְאֶה בָּעֳנִי אֲמָתֶךָ וּזְכַרְתַּנִי וְלֹא־תִשְׁכַּח אֶת־אֲמָתֶךָ וְנָתַתָּה לַאֲמָתְךָ זֶרַע אֲנָשִׁים וּנְתַתִּיו לַיהוָה כָּל־יְמֵי חַיָּיו וּמוֹרָה לֹא־יַעֲלֶה עַל־רֹאשׁוֹ׃ 1.14. וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלֶיהָ עֵלִי עַד־מָתַי תִּשְׁתַּכָּרִין הָסִירִי אֶת־יֵינֵךְ מֵעָלָיִךְ׃ 1.28. וְגַם אָנֹכִי הִשְׁאִלְתִּהוּ לַיהוָה כָּל־הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר הָיָה הוּא שָׁאוּל לַיהוָה וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ שָׁם לַיהוָה׃ 1.11. And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thy handmaid, but wilt give to Thy handmaid a man child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head." 1.14. And ῾Eli said to her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee." 1.28. therefore also I have presented him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be devoted to the Lord. And he bowed down to the Lord there."
3. Philo of Alexandria, On Drunkenness, 109-110, 143, 145-152, 30-35, 42-43, 51, 60-61, 74, 76, 81, 108 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 108. But man, who is devoid of any consideration, who is blinded as to his mind, by which alone the living God is comprehensible, does, by means of that mind, never see anything anywhere, but sees all the bodies which are in the world by his own outward senses, which he looks upon as the causes of all things which exist.
4. Philo of Alexandria, On The Change of Names, 144, 143 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 143. and to those who ask, whether she who is barren has an offspring (for the holy scriptures, which some time ago represented Sarrah as barren, now confess that she will become a mother); this answer must be given, that a woman who is barren cannot, in the course of nature, bring forth an offspring, just as a blind man cannot see, nor a deaf man hear; but that the soul, which is barren of bad things, and which is unproductive of immoderate license of the passions and vices, is alone very nearly attaining to a happy delivery, bringing forth objects worthy of love, namely, the number seven, according to the hymn which is sung by Grace, that is, by Hannah, who says, "she who was barren hath born seven, and she who had many children has become weak:
5. Philo of Alexandria, On Curses, 159 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 159. For the love of virtue being inflamed and excited by the brilliant appearance of virtue, burns to ashes the pleasures of the body, and then cuts them to pieces and pounds them to nothing, using the divine word which can at all times divide everything. And in this manner he teaches us that among the bodily advantages are health, and beauty, and the accuracy of the outward senses, and the perfection of bodily vigour with strength and mighty energy; but still that all these things are common to accursed and wicked persons, while if they were really good no wicked person would be allowed to partake of them.
6. Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams, 1.254 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 1.254. and there is an evidence in favour of my argument, in the conduct of the prophetess, and mother of a prophet, Hannah, whose name being translated, signifies grace; for she says that she gives her son, "Samuel, as a gift to the Holy One," not dedicating him more as a human being, than as a disposition full of inspiration, and possessed by a divinely sent impulse; and the name Samuel being interpreted means, "appointed to God.
7. Philo of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 11-15, 5-8, 10 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) 10. Now the most evident sign of a soul devoted to God is that song in which that expression occurs, "She that was barren has borne seven children, and she that had many children has become weak."7

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
abraham	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
abram/abraham	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393, 395
allegorical commentary	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 395
allegory	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
arithmology, seven	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393, 395
cosmos, indestructibility of	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 262
drunkenness	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
ecstasy	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
education	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254, 262
emotions, good	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
epicurus	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 262
etymology, hebrew	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
figures of speech, metaphor	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
god, as mother	Marcar, Divine Regeneration and Ethnic Identity in 1 Peter: Mapping Metaphors of Family, Race, and Nation (2022) 184
grace	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
gutzwiller, k.j.	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
hagar	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 395
hannah	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393; Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
inebriation, sober	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
inebriation	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254, 262
intellect	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 262
isaac	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393, 395; Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
keturah	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393, 395
law	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
madness	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 262
mainoles	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 262
metaphorical language, use of	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
midian	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
moses	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
motherhood	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
noah, drunken	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
noah, just	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
onomasticon	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
pentateuch	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
prophets	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393, 395
rachel	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
rebecca	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
samuel	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254; Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
sarah	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393, 395
septuagint	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
soul, eight-part	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
symbolic interpretation, of wine'	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 254
symbolic interpretation, of wine	Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 262
virginity	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177
virtue, cardinal	Cover, Philo of Alexandria: On the Change of Names (2023) 393
womanhood	Sly, Philo's Perception of Women (1990) 177