De Plantatione

Philo Judaeus

The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus, volume 1. Yonge, C. D., translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854.

therefore, to say that the tree is purified, contains a principle, the assertion of which is founded surely in truth, but to make the same statement with respect to the fruit is saying what [*](Numbers v. 15. ) [*](Leviticus xix. 23. ) [*](Genesis xxx. 37. ) [*]( Leviticus xiii. 12. )

v.1.p.439

is not equally clear or credible; for no cultivator of figs or grapes, or, in sort, of any fruit whatever, purifies them.

And again Moses says, "Its fruit shall be impure for three days, it shall not be eaten;" [*](Leviticus xix. 23. ) as if in fact it were customary for it to be purified for ever. We must, therefore, say that this is one of those expressions which have a concealed meaning, since the words themselves are not quite consistent with it; for the expression is an ambiguous one; for it bears one sense of this kind, the fruit shall remain for three years; and then there is a distinct injunction, "it shall not be eaten before it is purified." But there is also another meaning, "the fruit of the tree shall for three years be unpurified, and while in that state it shall not be eaten."