PHIL. IUD. ON THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS §. 15. 16.

The one man lifts his eyes toward the ether, looking upon the manna, the divine word, the immortal food of the heaven-loving soul; but they [look] toward the leeks and the garlic, which cause pain to the pupils of the eyes and trouble them and cause them to blink, and the other stench of leeks and dead fish, the customary foods of Egypt. "For we remembered," he says, "the fish that we ate in Egypt for free, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic; but now our soul is parched, our eyes [see] nothing except the manna." original: "Ἐμνήσθημεν γὰρ," φησί, "τοὺς ἰχθύας οὓς ἠσθίομεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δωρεὰν, τοὺς σικύους, πέπονας, πράσα, κρόμμυα, σκόροδα· νυνὶ δὲ ἡ ψυχὴ ἡμῶν κατάξηρος, οὐδὲν πλὴν πρὸς τὸ μάννα ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν." (Num. 11:5-6)

§. 16. The statement "He led him outside" also contributes to the formation of character, which some, out of crudeness of character, are accustomed to laugh at, saying: is someone led outside inside, or, conversely, does one enter outside? Yes, I would say, O ridiculous and very shallow people; for you have not learned to track the ways of the soul, but you investigate only the moving motions of bodies within these. Therefore, it seems paradoxical to you if someone goes out inside, or enters outside; but to us who are acquaintances of Moses, none of these is discordant. Or would you not say that the perfect high priest, when he performs the ancestral holy rites in the inner sanctum, is both inside and outside; inside in the visible body, but outside in the soul, which is roaming and wandering? And conversely, that someone who is not even of the priestly race, but is God-beloved and a lover of God, standing outside the sprinklers, dwells most inwardly, considering the whole life with the body a sojourn abroad? And whenever he is able to live by the soul alone, he assumes he is dwelling in his homeland? For every fool is "outside" of friendship, even if he spends the day together [with someone] and does not depart for a moment; but every wise man is "inside," even if he happens to be separated not only by lands but also by great regions of the earth.