The Works of Philo Judaeus, Vol. 2

ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES.

We say, then, that the expression "all the earth had but one pronunciation and one language" intimates a symphony of great and unspeakable evils that cities have inflicted upon cities and nations upon nations. Through this, men not only wrong one another but also behave with impiety towards God. These are the iniquities of the many; but let us consider the ineffable multitude of evils that proceed from each individual, especially when he is under the influence of that ill-timed, inharmonious, and unmusical agreement.

VI. Who does not know the great influence of fortune, when men, in addition to bodily diseases or mutilations, are attacked by poverty and ill-repute? Again, consider when these are united to diseases of the soul—moody melancholy, driving men beside themselves, or extreme old age, or any other severe calamity. One of these evils by itself is sufficient to overthrow and crush even someone very proud and haughty. But when all these—the evils of the body, the soul, and external misfortunes—come together as if in one regular battalion, moving by previous arrangement to attack a man in one body, what resolution is there that they will not overpower? When the guards are slain, it follows of necessity that he who relies on his guards must fall. The guards of the body are wealth, glory, and honors, which raise it on high and make it proud, just as their opposites—dishonor, ill-repute, and poverty—throw it down.

Again, the bodyguards of the soul are hearing, seeing, smelling, taste, the whole band of the outward senses, and also health, strength, vigor, and energy. The mind, when living in the company of these things—like someone standing between well-fortified boundaries—triumphs and rejoices, meeting with no hindrance to prevent it from exerting its own impulses.