Home About Network of subjects Linked subjects heatmap Book indices included Search by subject Search by reference Browse subjects Browse texts

Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



9251
Philo Of Alexandria, That The Worse Attacks The Better, 160-162


nanon which account Moses taking his tent "pitches it without the Tabernacle," and settles to dwell at a distance from the bodily camp, for in that way alone could he hope to become a worthy suppliant and a perfect minister before God. And he says that this tent was called the tent of testimony, taking exceeding care that it may really be the tabernacle of the living God, and may not be called so only. For of virtues, the virtues of God are founded in truth, existing according to his essence: since God alone exists in essence, on account of which fact, he speaks of necessity about himself, saying, "I am that I Am," as if those who were with him did not exist according to essence, but only appeared to exist in opinion. But the tent of Moses being symbolically considered, the virtue of man shall be thought worthy of appellation, not of real existence, being only an imitation, a copy made after the model of that divine tabernacle, and consistent with these facts is the circumstance that Moses when he is appointed to be the God of Pharaoh, was not so in reality, but was only conceived of as such in opinion, "for I know that it is God who gives and bestows favours


nanbut I am not able to perceive that he is given, and it is said in the sacred scriptures, "I give thee as a God to Pharaoh," and yet what is given is the patient, not the agent; but he that is truly living must be the agent, and beyond all question cannot be the patient.


nanWhat then is inferred from these facts? Why, that the wise man is called the God of the foolish man, but he is not God in reality, just as a base coin of the apparent value of four drachmas is not a four drachma piece. But when he is compared with the living God, then he will be found to be a man of God; but when he is compared with a foolish man, he is accounted a God to the imagination and in appearance, but he is not so in truth and essence. XLV.


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

16 results
1. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 3.14 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)

3.14. וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה תֹאמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶהְיֶה שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם׃ 3.14. And God said unto Moses: ‘I AM THAT I AM’; and He said: ‘Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you.’"
2. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 3.9-3.12, 4.14, 9.20, 15.10, 18.27, 23.10 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)

3.9. וַיִּקְרָא יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶל־הָאָדָם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ אַיֶּכָּה׃ 3.11. וַיֹּאמֶר מִי הִגִּיד לְךָ כִּי עֵירֹם אָתָּה הֲמִן־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִיךָ לְבִלְתִּי אֲכָל־מִמֶּנּוּ אָכָלְתָּ׃ 3.12. וַיֹּאמֶר הָאָדָם הָאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה עִמָּדִי הִוא נָתְנָה־לִּי מִן־הָעֵץ וָאֹכֵל׃ 4.14. הֵן גֵּרַשְׁתָּ אֹתִי הַיּוֹם מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וּמִפָּנֶיךָ אֶסָּתֵר וְהָיִיתִי נָע וָנָד בָּאָרֶץ וְהָיָה כָל־מֹצְאִי יַהַרְגֵנִי׃ 18.27. וַיַּעַן אַבְרָהָם וַיֹּאמַר הִנֵּה־נָא הוֹאַלְתִּי לְדַבֵּר אֶל־אֲדֹנָי וְאָנֹכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר׃ 3.9. And the LORD God called unto the man, and said unto him: ‘Where art thou?’" 3.10. And he said: ‘I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’" 3.11. And He said: ‘Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’" 3.12. And the man said: ‘The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’" 4.14. Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.’" 9.20. And Noah, the man of the land, began and planted a vineyard." 15.10. And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other; but the birds divided he not." 18.27. And Abraham answered and said: ‘Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes." 23.10. Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying:"
3. Hebrew Bible, Leviticus, 19.24 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)

19.24. וּבַשָּׁנָה הָרְבִיעִת יִהְיֶה כָּל־פִּרְיוֹ קֹדֶשׁ הִלּוּלִים לַיהוָה׃ 19.24. And in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy, for giving praise unto the LORD."
4. Hebrew Bible, Numbers, 11.28 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)

11.28. וַיַּעַן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן־נוּן מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה מִבְּחֻרָיו וַיֹּאמַר אֲדֹנִי מֹשֶׁה כְּלָאֵם׃ 11.28. And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses from his youth up, answered and said: ‘My lord Moses, shut them in.’"
5. Hebrew Bible, 1 Chronicles, 28.9 (5th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)

28.9. וְאַתָּה שְׁלֹמֹה־בְנִי דַּע אֶת־אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ וְעָבְדֵהוּ בְּלֵב שָׁלֵם וּבְנֶפֶשׁ חֲפֵצָה כִּי כָל־לְבָבוֹת דּוֹרֵשׁ יְהוָה וְכָל־יֵצֶר מַחֲשָׁבוֹת מֵבִין אִם־תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ יִמָּצֵא לָךְ וְאִם־תַּעַזְבֶנּוּ יַזְנִיחֲךָ לָעַד׃ 28.9. And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts; if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever."
6. Hebrew Bible, 2 Chronicles, 15.2 (5th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)

15.2. וַיֵּצֵא לִפְנֵי אָסָא וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ שְׁמָעוּנִי אָסָא וְכָל־יְהוּדָה וּבִנְיָמִן יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם בִּהְיוֹתְכֶם עִמּוֹ וְאִם־תִּדְרְשֻׁהוּ יִמָּצֵא לָכֶם וְאִם־תַּעַזְבֻהוּ יַעֲזֹב אֶתְכֶם׃ 15.2. and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him: ‘Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you, while ye are with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you."
7. Philo of Alexandria, On The Decalogue, 26 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

8. Philo of Alexandria, On Drunkenness, 95-100 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

100. for Moses," says the scripture, "having taken his own tent, fixed it outside the camp," and that too not near it, but a long way off, and at a great distance from the camp. And by these statements he tells us, figuratively, that the wise man is but a sojourner, and a person who leaves war and goes over to peace, and who passes from the mortal and disturbed camp to the undisturbed and peaceful and divine life of rational and happy souls. XXVI.
9. Philo of Alexandria, On Giants, 54 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

54. Thus also Moses, having fixed his tent outside of the tabernacle and outside of all the corporeal army, that is to say, having established his mind so that it should not move, begins to worship God, and having entered into the darkness, that invisible country, remains there, performing the most sacred mysteries; and he becomes, not merely an initiated man, but also an hierophant of mysteries and a teacher of divine things, which he will explain to those whose ears are purified;
10. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 51, 47 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

47. This is the cause why the earth bore fruit and herbs before God proceeded to adorn the heaven. And next the heaven was embellished in the perfect number four, and if any one were to pronounce this number the origin and source of the all-perfect decade he would not err. For what the decade is in actuality, that the number four, as it seems, is in potentiality, at all events if the numerals from the unit to Four are placed together in order, they will make ten, which is the limit of the number of immensity, around which the numbers wheel and turn as around a goal.
11. Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation, 2.54-2.55, 3.46 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

12. Philo of Alexandria, Who Is The Heir, 68 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

13. Philo of Alexandria, That The Worse Attacks The Better, 131-141, 146-148, 152-154, 156-159, 161-162, 170-171, 175-178, 181, 185, 205, 224, 228, 130 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)

130. At all events, we repudiate those chatterers and interminable talkers, who, in the long passages of their conversations, do not properly keep to their conceptions, but merely connect long and empty and, to say the truth, lifeless sentences. Therefore the conversation of such men as these is indecorous, and is justly condemned to groan; as, on the other hand, it is inevitable that that conversation which proceeds from a proper consideration of the objects of its consideration must rejoice, since it comes in an adequate manner to the interpretation of the things which it saw and comprehended vigorously;
14. Anon., The Life of Adam And Eve, 28.2-28.3, 29.4 (1st cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)

15. Alexander of Aphrodisias, Commentaries On Metaphysics, 38.12, 38.14-38.16 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)

16. Stoic School, Stoicor. Veter. Fragm., 3.262



Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
aaron Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 53
abraham Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
alexander of aphrodisias Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
allegorical Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
allelujah Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
anatolius Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
being/becoming McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
body Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646; Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
caesarea library Taylor and Hay, Philo of Alexandria: On the Contemplative Life: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2020) 99
cain Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
camel, symbol of memory Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
camp, outside Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
confession, eve, of Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
creation of the Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
cultivator Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
david Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
death Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6
distinction Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
division Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
elements Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
equality Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
estrangement Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
fear of god Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
figures of speech, rhetorical question Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
glory, lord, of the Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
god, all virtue, as Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
god, authoritative one, as Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
halakhic letter Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
holy place Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
imagery, fountain Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
jerusalem Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
john, gospel of Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6
justice Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
logos, in philo McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
logos, tomeus Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
logos (λόγος) Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6
lord see god, armies (hosts), of Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
lydus, john Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
mediation McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
metaphor Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
metaphorical language/use Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
name of god McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
numbers, four Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
numbers, theory of Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
passions Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
paul of tarsus Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6
platonic ideas McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
platonism, effects on philo McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
platonism, middle Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6
powers, in philo McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
ps.iamblichus Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
pythagoreanism/pythagoreans/pythagorean Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
soul, as mediating entity McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
soul Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218; Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6; McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140; Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
stoa/stoic/stoicism Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
stobaeus Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
tabernacle Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
talmud Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
temple v Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
theon of smyrna Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
torah Weissenrieder, Borders: Terminologies, Ideologies, and Performances (2016) 343
virtues, cardinal Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Planting: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2019) 238
voice Levison, The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (2023) 646
worker of the earth Geljon and Runia, Philo of Alexandria: On Cultivation: Introduction, Translation and Commentary (2013) 218
world soul' McDonough, Christ as Creator: Origins of a New Testament Doctrine (2009) 140
world soul Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6
λόγος Hirsch-Luipold, Plutarch and the New Testament in Their Religio-Philosophical Contexts (2022) 6