ARGUMENT OF THE BOOK

THE LIFE OF THE WISE MAN

PERFECTED THROUGH LEARNING,

OR

ON UNWRITTEN LAWS,

THAT IS,

ON ABRAHAM.

The book of Moses, which is inscribed Genesis, among other things recounts the lives of many men, which it will not repent the reader to imitate (1). One of these is Enos, called a man κατ’ ἐξοχὴν par excellence, who is an example that the hope which he himself placed in God is the best of all goods (2); another is Enoch, who must be called a symbol of repentance, the most excellent of virtues, because it is said he was translated from earth to heaven (3, 4); another again is Noah, the lover and symbol of most perfect justice, whom one may call both the end and the beginning of our generation (5-9). But besides this trio of men, the symbols of hope, repentance, and perfection, the Holy Scripture presents another, which is composed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the former is a symbol of meditation, the middle one of a good natural disposition, and the latter is a symbol of ἀσκήσεως practice/training, in such a way, however, that each individual was endowed with these three powers (δυνάμεσι powers), and was named for the one in which he was most proficient (10-12). Among these, Abraham excels with a remarkable love of virtue and piety, which he prepared for himself solely through the contemplation of the nature of things (13-17). Hence it happened that his former name, Abram, was changed by God into Abraham, which word denotes "a chosen father of sound," and indicates the excellent goodness of his character (18). Moreover, Abraham excelled over others not only in knowledge, but also in deeds done rightly and honestly, without which the value of the former is small (19-21), for example, in hospitality (22) and the simplicity of manners always maintained in his house, virtues which he especially displayed when God visited him with two angels (23). Among these