1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 25-27, 24 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
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2. Philo of Alexandria, On The Cherubim, 47, 8, 40 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 40. And Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain; and she said I have gotten a man by means of the Lord; and he caused her also to bring forth Abel his Brother." These men, to whose virtue the Jewish legislation bears testimony, he does not represent as knowing their wives, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and if there are any others of like zeal with them; 40. A third view of the question is, that no king or tyrant may ever despise an obscure private individual, from being full of insolence and haughty pride; but that such an one, coming as a pupil to the school of the sacred laws, may relax his eyebrows, unlearning his self-opinionativeness, and yielding rather to true reason. |
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3. Philo of Alexandria, On The Preliminary Studies, 112-113, 34-38, 111 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 111. And the son of the man who was devoted to learning, learnt a very beautiful doctrine when he went on that admirable embassy, asking in marriage for the self-taught wise man that most appropriate sister, namely, perseverance. For he takes ten camels, a reminder of the number ten, that is to say, of right instruction, from among many and, indeed, infinite memorials of the Lord. |
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4. Philo of Alexandria, On Flight And Finding, 40, 42-48, 50-52, 25 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 25. But she says, when you see the bad man coming in with great impetuosity, against virtue, and making great account of those things which it is more proper to disregard, such as wealth, glory, and pleasure, and praising the performance of actions of injustice, as being the cause of all the advantages before mentioned: for we see that those who act unjustly, are, for the most part, men possessed of much silver, and of much gold, and of high reputation. Do not then, turn away to the opposite road, and devote yourself to a life of penury, and abasement, and austerity, and solitude; for, by doing so, you will irritate your adversary, and arm a more bitter enemy against yourself. |
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5. Philo of Alexandria, On The Migration of Abraham, 209-211, 208 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 208. I very much admire Rebecca, who is patience, because she, at that time, recommends the man who is perfect in his soul, and who has destroyed the roughnesses of the passions and vices, to flee and return to Charran; for she says, "Now, therefore, my child, hear my voice, and rise up and depart, and flee away to Laban, my brother, to Charran, and dwell with him certain days, until the anger and rage of thy brother is turned from being against thee, and till he forgets what thou hast done to Him. |
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6. Philo of Alexandria, On The Posterity of Cain, 135, 142-145, 148-149, 153, 77, 134 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 134. Now of the four virtues, some are always virgins, and some from having been women become changed into virgins, as Sarah did; "For it had ceased to be with her after the manner of Women," when she began to conceive her happy offspring Isaac. But that which is always a virgin, is that of which Moses says, "And no man whatever knows her." For in truth, it is not permitted to any mortal to pollute incorruptible nature, nor even clearly to comprehend what it is. If indeed he were able by any means to become acquainted with it, he would not cease to hate and regret it; |
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7. Philo of Alexandria, On The Sacrifices of Cain And Abel, 4 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 4. And this will be more evidently shown by the oracle which was given to Perseverance, that is to Rebecca; for she also, having conceived the two inconsistent natures of good and evil, and having considered each of them very deeply according to the injunctions of prudence, beholding them both exulting, and making a sort of skirmish as a prelude to the war which was to exist between them; she, I say, besought God to explain to her what this calamity meant, and what was the remedy for it. And he answered her inquiry, and told her, "Two nations are in thy womb." This calamity is the birth of good and evil. "But two peoples shall be divided in thy bowels." And the remedy is, for these two to be parted and separated from one another, and no longer to abide in the same place. |
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8. Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams, 1.46 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 1.46. therefore his mother, perseverance, that is Rebecca, says to him, "Rise up and flee to Laban, my brother, to Charran, and dwell with him certain Days." Do you not perceive then that the practiser of virtue will not endure to live permanently in the country of the outward senses, but only to remain there a few days and a short time, on account of the necessities of the body to which he is bound? But a longer time and an entire life is allotted to him in the city which is appreciable only by the intellect. IX. |
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9. Philo of Alexandria, On The Virtues, 208 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 208. Again, to the one who was approved of as the heir, there were born two sons, twins, resembling one another in no particular except in the hands, and even in them only by some especially providence of God, inasmuch as they were alike neither in their bodies nor in their minds, for the younger one was obedient to both his parents, and was really amiable and pleasing, so that he obtained the praises even of God; while the elder was disobedient, being intemperate in respect of the pleasures of the belly and of the parts beneath the belly, by a regard for which he was induced even to part with his birth-right, as far as he himself was concerned, though he repented immediately afterwards of the conditions on which he had forfeited it, and sought to slay his brother, and, in fact, to do everything imaginable by which he could be likely to pain his parents; |
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10. Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation, 3.88 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
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11. Philo of Alexandria, That The Worse Attacks The Better, 45, 30 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 30. And the clearest possible proof of this is, that no one who conversed with Isaac was a mere mortal. Rebecca, that is perseverance, asks her servant, seeing but one person, and having no conception but of one only, "Who is this man who is coming to meet us?" For the soul which perseveres in what is good, is able to comprehend all self-taught wisdom, which is named Isaac, but is not yet able to see God, who is the guide of wisdom. |
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12. New Testament, 1 Peter, 3.1-3.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.1. In like manner, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don't obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word; 3.2. seeing your pure behavior in fear. 3.3. Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; 3.4. but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious. 3.5. For this is how the holy women before, who hoped in God, also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands: 3.6. as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror. |
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