Philonis Judaei Opera Omnia (Vol. 3)

PHIL. IUD. ON THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS §. 3—5. 7

after having brought stillness and rested, and having directed itself toward the speaker, having become silent according to the commandment of Moses, it will be able to listen with all attention; otherwise, it would have no power to do so.

§. 4. Silence is beneficial for the ignorant, but for those who yearn for knowledge and are simultaneously devoted to the Master, frank speech parrhesia boldness of speech is a most necessary possession. For it is said in Exodus, "The Lord will fight for us, and you shall be silent." original: "Κύριος πολεμήσει ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, καὶ ὑμεῖς σιγήσετε." (Exod. 14:14) And an oracle follows immediately: "And the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry out to me?" original: "Τί βοᾷς πρός με;" (Exod. 14:15) It is as if it is necessary both for those who have nothing worth hearing to say to be silent, and for those who have entrusted themselves to God through a love of wisdom to speak—and not only to speak with calmness, but to cry out with an even greater shout, not with the mouth and tongue, through which a word becomes sensible air rounded for the ear, but with the all-musical and most loud-sounding instrument of voice, of which no mortal is a listener, but only the unbegotten and imperishable. For the well-tuned and concordant melody of intelligible harmony is capable of being grasped only by the intelligible musician, and by none of those mingled in the realm of sense. When the entire instrument of the mind rings out in accordance with the musical harmony of the octave and double octave, the listener asks, as if inquiring, though not inquiring in truth—for all things are known to God—"Why do you cry out to me?" Is it by way of supplication for the averting of evils, or by way of thanksgiving for the participation in goods, or for both?

§. 5. The man who is thought to be thick-lipped, slow-tongued, and lacking in words is found to be no less talkative, so that on one hand he is introduced not only speaking but crying out, and on the other, using an unceasing and continuous stream of words. "For Moses," he says, "spoke, and God answered him in a voice," original: "Μωϋσῆς γὰρ ἐλάλει, καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτῷ ἐν φωνῇ," (Exod. 19:19) he did not speak to completion, but spoke in an extended prolongation, and God did not teach to completion, but answered always and continuously.