De Virtutibus

Philo Judaeus

The works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus, volume 3. Yonge, C. D., translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1855.

And, after that period, you shall cohabit with her as with a legitimate wedded wife; for it is right that one who is about to ascend the bed of her husband, not for hire, like a harlot who makes a traffic of the flower of her beauty, but either out of love for him who has espoused her, or for the sake of the procreation of children, should be thought worthy of the ordinances which belong to a legitimate marriage.

On which account the lawgiver has given all his laws with great beauty. For, in the first place, he had not permitted appetite to proceed onwards in its unbridled course, with stiff-necked [*]( Deuteronomy xx. 10.) [*]( Deuteronomy xxi. 10. )

v.3.p.438

obstinacy, but he has checked its vehement impetuosity, compelling it to rest for thirty days. And in the second place he has tested love, trying whether it is a frantic passion, easily satisfied, and, in fact, wholly originating in desire, or whether it has any share in that most pure essence of well-tempered reason, for reason will bridle the desire, not allowing it to proceed to any acts of insolence, but compelling it to abide the appointed period of a month of probation.

And, in the third place, he shows his compassion for the captive, if she is a virgin, because it is not her parents who are now giving her in marriage, arranging for her a most desirable connection; and if she is a widow, because she, being deprived of her first husband, is about now to make experiment of another, and this too while he still holds over her the power of a master, even though he studies to exhibit equality; for that which is subject to a master must always be apprehensive of his power, even though he may be very merciful.