Tetradymus. Containing I. Hodegus ... II. Clidophorus ... III. Hypatia. ... IV. Mangoneutes

PREFACE.

See the smoke during the day and the flame during the night. He claims that the person who directed this fire and served as a guide to the Israelites was none other than HOBAB, the father-in-law of MOSES. He attempts to prove this through verses 29 and 30 of the 10th chapter of Numbers, and through several other passages of Holy Scripture. Published in Bordeaux, 1710. original: "Voir la fumée pendant le jour, et la flame pendant la nuit. Il pretend que celui, qui a eu la direction de ce feu... n'etoit autre chose que Hobab... A Bordeaux 1710."

...in England, who not long ago composed a dissertation wherein he undertakes to prove that there was nothing miraculous, nor even extraordinary, in that Pillar of Fire which led the Israelites through the wilderness. He intends to show, by citing the best ancient and modern authors, that it has always been the custom in those types of deserts to use fire to direct the march of armies or caravans. These fires were carried ahead of them by guides so that the entire multitude could see the smoke by day and the flame by night. He claims that the person who directed this fire and served as a guide to the Israelites was none other than HOBAB, the father-in-law (or, as I previously suggested, the brother-in-law) of MOSES. He endeavors to prove this through the 29th and 30th verses of the tenth chapter of Numbers, and through several other passages of Holy Scripture. The reason why I have not entitled the work Hobab instead can be found in Section 27, to which I refer the reader.

II. Having been so detailed in relating the occasion for writing HODEGUS, I shall be more brief in explaining the reasons for publishing CLIDOPHORUS and HYPATIA. The first of these would be either unnecessary or more complete if we still possessed the book said by Eunapius A 4th-century Greek historian and philosopher to have been written by Porphyry A 3rd-century Neoplatonist philosopher who often sought to clarify complex philosophical systems. Porphyry—commending the "medicine of clarity" and having experienced its benefits—wrote A Treatise Concerning the Secret Doctrines of the Philosophers. These philosophers had wrapped their teachings in obscurity, much like the myths of the poets, but he brought them to light. What made the philosophers so cautious, and made them go to such great lengths—for it is a much easier task to write of things plainly and directly, than in a complex and indirect manner...

While the philosophers concealed their secret doctrines in obscurity, just as the poets did with myths, Porphyry wrote a commentary to serve as a beacon and brought them to light. original: "Των δε φιλοσοφων τα απορρητα καλυπτοντων ασαφεια, καθαπερ των ποιητων τοις μυθοις, ο Πορφυρειος, το μεν φαρος εποιησεν υπομνημα γραφας, εις φως ηγαγεν." From Eunapius, Life of Porphyry, page 18, 1616 edition.