Legum Allegoriarum Libri I-III

for, in the case of Moses, God speaks thus: And he washed his belly and his feet, with the blood of the entire burnt offering.[*](Leviticus ix. 14. ) Speaking very truly, for the wise man consecrates his entire soul as what is worthy to be offered to God, because it is free from all reproach, whether wilfully or unintentionally incorrect, and being thus disposed, he washes his whole belly and all the pleasures which it knows, and all which pursue it, and cleanses them and purifies them from all uncleanliness, not being content with any partial cleansing. But he is disposed to regard pleasure so contemptuously that he has no desire for even the necessary meat or drink, but nourishes himself wholly on the contemplation of divine things.

On which account in another passage, he bears witness to himself, For

For he who is advancing onwards to perfection is said to wash his bowels and his feet,[*](Leviticus i. 9. ) and not his whole belly. For he is not capable of rejecting the whole of pleasure, but he is content if he can purify his bowels, that is to say, his inmost parts from it, which the lovers of pleasure say are certain additions to preceding pleasures, and which originate in the superfluous ingenuity of cooks and makers of delicacies and laborious gourmands.

And he also displays, in a further degree, the moderation of the passions of the man who is advancing towards perfection, by the fact that the perfect man discards all the pleasures of the belly without being prompted by any command to do so, but that he who is only advancing onwards towards perfection only does so in consequence of being commanded. For, in the case of the wise man, we find the following expression used:—He washes his belly and his feet with water,[*](Leviticus ix. 14. ) without any command, in accordance with his own unbidden inclination. But, in the case of the priests, he spoke thus: But their bowels and their feet, not they have washed, but they do wash;[*]( Leviticus L 13. ) speaking with very cautious exactness, for the perfect man must be moved in his own inclination towards the energies in accordance with virtue. But he who is only practising virtue must be instigated by reason, which points out to him what he ought to do, and it is an honourable thing to obey the injunctions of reason.

But we ought not to be ignorant that Moses repudiates the whole of the belly, that is to say, the filling and indulging the belly, and almost renounces all the other passions likewise; the lawgiver giving a lively representation of the whole from one part, starting from a universal example, and discussing, potentially at least, the other points as to which he was silent. The filling of the belly is a most enduring and universal thing; and, as it were, a kind of foundation of the other

On this account, when the goods of the soul had previously been born of Leah, and had ended in Judah,[*](Genesis xxix. 35. ) that is to say, in confession, God being about to create also the improvements of the body, prepared Bilhah, the hand-maid of Rachel, to bear children on behalf of and before her mistress. And the name Bilhah, being interpreted, means deglutition. For he knew that not one of the corporeal faculties can exist without imbibing moisture and without the belly; but the belly is predominant over and the ruler of the whole body, and the preserver of this corporeal mass in a state of existence.

And observe the subtle way in which all this is expressed; for you will not find a single word used superfluously. Moses indeed takes away the breast, but as for the belly he does not take that away, but he washes it.[*](Numbers v. 27. ) Why so? Because the perfectly wise man is able to repudiate and to eradicate all the angry passions, making them rise up and abandon anger; but he is unable to cut out and discard the belly, for nature is compelled to use the necessary meats and drinks, even if a man, being content with the scantiest possible supply of necessaries should despise it, and purpose to himself to abjure eating. Let him therefore wash and purify it from all superfluous and unclean preparations; for to be able to do even this is a very sufficient gift from God to the lover of virtue.

On this account Moses says, with respect to the soul which is suspected of having committed adultery,[*](Leviticus viii. 29—ix. 14. ) that, if having abandoned right reason, which is man living according to the law, it shall be found to have gone over to passion, which pollutes the soul, it shall become swollen in the belly, which means it shall have all the pleasures and appetites of the belly unsatisfied and insatiable, and it shall never cease to be greedy through ignorance, but pleasures in boundless number shall flow into it, and thus its passions shall be interminable.

Now I know many people who have fallen into error in respect of the appetites of the belly, that while still devoting themselves to their gratifications, they have again rushed with eagerness to wine and other luxuries; for the

In reference to which the expression, that the thigh shall fall away, is added in immediate connexion with the denunciation that her belly shall swell; for then right reason, which has the seeds and originating principles of good, falls from the soul. If therefore, says Moses, she has not been corrupted, then she shall be pure, and free from all infliction from generation to generation; that is to say, if she has not been polluted by passion, but has kept herself pure in respect of her legitimate husband, sound reason, her proper guide, she shall have a productive and fertile soul, bearing the offspring of prudence and justice and all virtue.

Is it then possible for us, who are bound up in our bodies, to avoid complying with the necessities of the body? And if it is possible, how is it possible? But consider, the priest recommends him who is led away by his bodily necessities to indulge in nothing beyond what is strictly necessary. In the first place, says he, Let there be a place for thee outside of the camp; meaning by the camp virtue, in which the soul is encamped and fortified; for prudence and a free indulgence in the necessities of the body cannot abide in the same place.

After that he says, And you shall go out there. Why so? Because the soul, which is abiding in companionship with prudence and dwelling in the house of wisdom, cannot indulge in any of the delights of the body, for it is at that time nourished on a diviner food in the sciences, in consequence of which it neglects the flesh, for when it has gone forth beyond the sacred thresholds of virtue, then it turns to the material substances, which disarrange and oppress the soul. How then am I to deal with them?

It shall be a peg, says Moses, upon thy girdle, and thou shalt dig with it;[*](Deuteronomy xxiii. 12. ) that is to say, reason shall be close to you in the case of the passion, which digs out and equips and clothes it properly; for he desires that we should be girded up in respect of the passions, and not to have them about us in a loose and dissolute state.

On which account, at the time of

And in this way when we are at entertainments, and when we are about to come to the enjoyment and use of luxuries that have been prepared for us, let us approach them taking reason with us as a defensive armour, and let us not fill ourselves with food beyond all moderation like cormorants, nor let us satiate ourselves with immoderate draughts of strong wine, and so give way to intoxication which compels men to act like fools. For reason will bridle and curb the violence and impetuosity of such a passion.

I myself, at all events, know that it has done so with regard to many of the passions, for when I have gone to entertainments where no respect was paid to discipline, and to sumptuous banquets, whenever I went without taking Reason with me as a guide, I became a slave to the luxuries that lay before me, being under the guidance of masters who could not be tamed, with sights and sounds of temptation, and all other such things also as work pleasure in a man by the agency of his senses of smell and taste. But when I approach such scenes in the company of reason, I then become a master instead of a slave: and without being subdued myself win a glorious victory of self-denial and temperance; opposing and contending against all the appetites which subdue the intemperate.

Thou shalt be armed, Moses therefore says, with a peg.[*](Deuteronomy xxiii. 12. ) That is to say, you, by the aid of reason, shall lay bare the nature which each of the separate passions has, eating, and drinking, and indulging in the pleasures of the belly, and you shall distinguish between them, that when you have so distinguished you may know the truth. For then you shall know that there is no good in any of these things, but only what is necessary and useful.

And bringing it over, you shall cover what is indecorous,[*](Deuteronomy xxiii. 14. ) speaking very appropriately. For come to me, O my soul, bring reason to everything by which all unseemliness of

Therefore the man who is devoted to pleasure goes on his belly, but the perfect man washes his whole belly, and he who is only advancing towards perfection washes the things in his belly. But he who is now beginning to be instructed proceeds out of doors when he is intent upon curbing the passions of the belly by bringing reason to work upon the necessities of the belly, and reason is called symbolically a peg.

Moses therefore does well when he adds, Thou shalt go upon thy breast and upon thy belly.[*](Genesis iii. 14. ) For pleasure is not one of the things which is tranquil and steady, but is rather a thing which is in constant motion and full of confusion, for as flame is excited by being moved, so passion when it is put in motion in the soul, being in some respects like a flame, does not suffer it to rest. On which account he does not agree with those who pronounce pleasure a stable feeling, for tranquillity is connected with stones and trees, and all kinds of inanimate things, but is quite inconsistent with pleasure; for it is fond of tickling and convulsive agitation, and with regard to some of its indulgences it has not need of tranquillity but of an intense and violent unseemliness of commotion.