Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

9220

Philo Of Alexandria, On The Confusion Of Tongues, 190

nan This, now, is our opinion upon and interpretation of this passage. But they who follow only what is plain and easy, think that what is here intended to be recorded, is the origin of the languages of the Greeks and barbarians, whom, without blaming them (for, perhaps, they also put a correct interpretation on the transaction), I would exhort not to be content with stopping at this point, but to proceed onward to look at the passage in a figurative way, considering that the mere words of the scriptures are, as it were, but shadows of bodies, and that the meanings which are apparent to investigation beneath them, are the real things to be pondered upon.

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

13 results
1. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 6.6, 9.20, 11.1, 11.7 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) 6.6. וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה כִּי־עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל־לִבּוֹ׃ 11.1. וַיְהִי כָל־הָאָרֶץ שָׂפָה אֶחָת וּדְבָרִים אֲחָדִים׃ 11.1. אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת שֵׁם שֵׁם בֶּן־מְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת־אַרְפַּכְשָׁד שְׁנָתַיִם אַחַר הַמַּבּוּל׃ 11.7. הָבָה נֵרְדָה וְנָבְלָה שָׁם שְׂפָתָם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִשְׁמְעוּ אִישׁ שְׂפַת רֵעֵהוּ׃ 6.6. And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart." 9.20. And Noah, the man of the land, began and planted a vineyard." 11.1. And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech." 11.7. Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’"
2. Homer, Iliad, 2.204-2.207 (8th cent. BCE - 7th cent. BCE) 2.204. / Fellow, sit thou still, and hearken to the words of others that are better men than thou; whereas thou art unwarlike and a weakling, neither to be counted in war nor in counsel. In no wise shall we Achaeans all be kings here. No good thing is a multitude of lords; let there be one lord 2.205. /one king, to whom the son of crooked-counselling Cronos hath vouchsafed the sceptre and judgments, that he may take counsel for his people. Thus masterfully did he range through the host, and they hasted back to the place of gathering from their ships and huts with noise, as when a wave of the loud-resounding sea 2.206. /one king, to whom the son of crooked-counselling Cronos hath vouchsafed the sceptre and judgments, that he may take counsel for his people. Thus masterfully did he range through the host, and they hasted back to the place of gathering from their ships and huts with noise, as when a wave of the loud-resounding sea 2.207. /one king, to whom the son of crooked-counselling Cronos hath vouchsafed the sceptre and judgments, that he may take counsel for his people. Thus masterfully did he range through the host, and they hasted back to the place of gathering from their ships and huts with noise, as when a wave of the loud-resounding sea
3. Anon., Sibylline Oracles, 3.97-3.104 (1st cent. BCE - 5th cent. CE) 3.97. Then all the elements shall be bereft 3.98. of order, when the God who dwells on high 3.99. Shall roll the heaven, even as a scroll is rolled; 3.100. 100 And to the mighty earth and sea shall fall 3.101. The entire multiform sky; and there shall flow 3.102. A tireless cataract of raging fire 3.103. And it shall burn the land, and burn the sea 3.104. And heavenly sky, and night, and day, and melt
4. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Abraham, 108-132, 107 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 107. It has been said then that the disposition of the Egyptians is inhospitable and intemperate; and the humanity of him who has been exposed to their conduct deserves admiration, for He in the middle of the day beholding as it were three men travelling (and he did not perceive that they were in reality of a more divine nature), ran up and entreated them with great perseverance not to pass by his tent, but as was becoming to go in and receive the rites of hospitality: and they knowing the truth of the man not so much by what he said, as by his mind which they could look into, assented to his request without hesitation;
5. Philo of Alexandria, On The Confusion of Tongues, 15, 170, 14 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 14. Those, then, who put these things together, and cavil at them, and raise malicious objections, will be easily refuted separately by those who can produce ready solutions of all such questions as arise from the plain words of the law, arguing in a spirit far from contentious, and not encountering them by sophisms drawn from any other source, but following the connection of natural consequences, which does not permit them to stumble, but which easily puts aside any impediments that arise, so that the course of their arguments proceeds without any interruption or mishap.
6. Philo of Alexandria, On The Preliminary Studies, 11, 9-10 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 10. For as in houses there are vestibules placed in front of staircases, and as in cities there are suburbs, through which one must pass in order to enter into the cities; so also the encyclical branches of instruction are placed in front of virtue, for they are the road which conducts to her.
7. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 25 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 25. this is the doctrine of Moses, not mine. Accordingly he, when recording the creation of man, in words which follow, asserts expressly, that he was made in the image of God--and if the image be a part of the image, then manifestly so is the entire form, namely, the whole of this world perceptible by the external senses, which is a greater imitation of the divine image than the human form is. It is manifest also, that the archetypal seal, which we call that world which is perceptible only to the intellect, must itself be the archetypal model, the idea of ideas, the Reason of God. VII.
8. Philo of Alexandria, On The Contemplative Life, 78, 29 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 29. They have also writings of ancient men, who having been the founders of one sect or another have left behind them many memorials of the allegorical system of writing and explanation, whom they take as a kind of model, and imitate the general fashion of their sect; so that they do not occupy themselves solely in contemplation, but they likewise compose psalms and hymns to God in every kind of metre and melody imaginable, which they of necessity arrange in more dignified rhythm.
9. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Moses, 2.67 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 2.67. Therefore he, with a few other men, was dear to God and devoted to God, being inspired by heavenly love, and honouring the Father of the universe above all things, and being in return honoured by him in a particular manner. And it was an honour well adapted to the wise man to be allowed to serve the true and living God. Now the priesthood has for its duty the service of God. of this honour, then, Moses was thought worthy, than which there is no greater honour in the whole world, being instructed by the sacred oracles of God in everything that related to the sacred offices and ministrations.
10. Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation, 1.1, 1.19, 1.56-1.59 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 1.1. And the heaven and the earth and all their world was Completed." Having previously related the creation of the mind and of sense, Moses now proceeds to describe the perfection which was brought about by them both. And he says that neither the indivisible mind nor the particular sensations received perfection, but only ideas, one the idea of the mind, the other of sensation. And, speaking symbolically, he calls the mind heaven, since the natures which can only be comprehended by the intellect are in heaven. And sensation he calls earth, because it is sensation which has obtained a corporeal and some what earthy constitution. The ornaments of the mind are all the incorporeal things, which are perceptible only by the intellect. Those of sensation are the corporeal things, and everything in short which is perceptible by the external senses. II. 1.19. This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were Created." This is perfect reason, which is put in motion in accordance with the number seven, being the beginning of the creation of that mind which was arranged according to the ideas, and also of the sensation arranged according to the ideas, and perceptible only by the intellect, if one can speak in such a manner. And Moses calls the word of God a book, in which it is come to pass that the formations of other things are written down and engraved. 1.56. And God caused to rise out of the earth every tree which is pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life he raised in the middle of the Paradise, and also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." He here gives a sketch of the trees of virtue which he plants in the soul. And these are the particular virtues, and the energies in accordance with them, and the good and successful actions, and the things which by the philosophers are called fitting; 1.57. these are the plants of the Paradise. Nevertheless, he describes the characteristics of these same trees, showing that that which is desirable to be beheld is likewise most excellent to be enjoyed. For of the arts some are theoretical and not practical, such as geometry and astronomy. Some, again, are practical and not theoretical, such as the art of the architect, of the smith, and all those which are called mechanical arts. But virtue is both theoretical and practical; for it takes in theory, since the road which leads to it is philosophy in three of its parts--the reasoning, and the moral, and the physical part. It also includes action; for virtue is art conversant about the whole of life; and in life all actions are exhibited. 1.58. Still, although it takes in both theory and practice, nevertheless it is most excellent in each particular. For the theory of virtue is thoroughly excellent, and its practice and observation is a worthy object to contend for. On which account Moses says that the tree was pleasant to the sight, which is a symbol of theoretical excellence; and likewise good for food, which is a token of useful and practical good. XVIII. 1.59. But the tree of life is that most general virtue which some people call goodness; from which the particular virtues are derived, and of which they are composed. And it is on this account that it is placed in the centre of the Paradise; having the most comprehensive place of all, in order that, like a king, it may be guarded by the trees on each side of it. But some say that it is the heart that is meant by the tree of life; since that is the cause of life, and since that has its position in the middle of the body, as being, according to them, the domit part of the body. But these men ought to be made aware that they are expounding a doctrine which has more reference to medical than to natural science. But we, as has been said before, affirm that by the tree of life is meant the most general virtue.
11. Philo of Alexandria, That The Worse Attacks The Better, 60, 59 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 59. Since, when he asks the wise man, Where is Virtue? that is to say, when he asks Abraham about Sarah, he asks, not because he is ignorant, but because he thinks that he ought to answer for the sake of eliciting praise from the answer of him who speaks. Accordingly, Moses tells us that Abraham answered, "Behold, she is in the tent;" that is to say, in the soul. What then is there in this answer that contains praise? Behold, says he, I keep virtue in my house as a treasure carefully stored up, and on account of this I am immediately happy.
12. Philo of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 21-22, 31-32, 20 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) 20. However, we have said enough on this head; let us now connect what follows with It:ù"the Lord God, therefore," says Moses, "seeing that the wickedness of man was multiplied upon the earth, and that every one of them was carefully studying wickedness in his heart all his days; God considered in his mind that he had made man upon the earth, and he thought upon it; and God said, I will destroy man whom I have made from off the face of the earth."9
13. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 1.113-1.118 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 1.113. 2. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. 1.114. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers! 1.115. 3. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; 1.116. but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; 1.117. but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them divers languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion. 1.118. The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower, and of the confusion of the language, when she says thus: “When all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to heaven, but the gods sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower, and gave every one his peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called Babylon.”

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
alexandria	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
allegorical commentary	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135, 156
allegorical interpretation,philonic	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
allegory/-ies	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
allegory	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169; Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135, 156
babel,tower of	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169
babel	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
bible	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
create,creation,creator	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
ethics	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
etymology of biblical names	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
exegesis,method of	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
exegesis	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
god,knowledge of	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
greeks,culture	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
intelligible realities/being,worlds/creation	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
jews/hebrews	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
knowledge,of god	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
law/law	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
literal sense	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 156
literary analysis	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135
logos	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
monotheism	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169
mosaic law	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
moses	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135; Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
myth,greek (pagan)	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169
myth,jewish	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169
myth,jewish critique of	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169
origen	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
paideia,enkyklios	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
paideia	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
paradise	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 156
passions	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
philo,de agricultura,genre	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
philo	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8; Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135, 156; Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
philos colleagues,allegorical	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 156
philos colleagues	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135
propaideia/propaideumata	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
questions and answers	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135, 156
reader,jewish allegorical	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 156
reader,literal	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135, 156
reader,of allegorical commentary	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135
reader,of philo	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 156
scholars,literal	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135, 156
scholars,literal bible	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135
shadow	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
soul'	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
sterling,gregory	Geljon and Runia (2013), Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary, 8
tower of babel	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 135
tree of life	Niehoff (2011), Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria, 156
virtue	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
wisdom)	Černušková, Kovacs and Plátová (2016), Clement’s Biblical Exegesis: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Clement of Alexandria , 115
zeus	Bloch (2022), Ancient Jewish Diaspora: Essays on Hellenism, 169