stephan huller

But not only are we taught to thank the giver of all goodness for these earthly, and wooden, and corporeal things, and for the irrational animals, the outward senses, but also for the mind, which, to speak with strict propriety, is man in man, the better in the worse, the immortal in the mortal. (98) On this account I think it is, that God ordered to be consecrated the whole of the firstborn, the tenth, I mean the tribe of Levi, taking them in exchange for the first-born, for the preservation and protection of holiness, and piety, and sacred ministrations, which all have reference to the honour of God. For the first and best thing in ourselves is our reason, and it is very proper to offer up the first-fruits of our cleverness, and acuteness, and comprehension, and prudence, and of all our other faculties which we have in connection with our reason as first-fruits to God, who has bestowed upon us this great abundance of power of exerting our intelligence. (99) From this consideration it was, that Jacob, the practiser of virtue, at the beginning of his prayers, says: "Of all that thou givest me, I will set apart and consecrate a tenth to Thee."{19}{#ge 28:22.} And the sacred scripture, which was written after the prayers on occasion of victory, which Melchisedek, who had received a self-instructed and self-taught priesthood, makes, says: "For he gave him a tenth of all Things,"{20}{#ge 14:20.} assigning to him the outward senses the faculty of feeling properly, and by the same sense of speech the faculty of speaking well, and by the senses connected with the mind the faculty of thinking well. [On Mating]

In this manner also the seeds of the legitimate wisdom, which exists among men, were sown, "For there was," says the same historian, "a man of the tribe of Levi, named Amram, who took to wife one of the daughters of Levi, and had her, and she conceived and brought forth a male child; and seeing that he was a goodly child they concealed him for three Months."{32}{#ex 2:1.} (132) This is Moses, the purest mind, the child that is really goodly; the child that received at the same time all legislative and prophetic skill by the means of inspired and heaven-bestowed wisdom; who, being by birth a member of the tribe of Levi, and being flourishing both in the things relating to his mother and in those affecting his father, clings to the truth; (133) and the greatest profession ever made by the author and chief of this tribe is this, for he makes bold to say, that "the only God is alone to be honoured by me;" and nothing besides of all the things that are inferior to Him, neither earth, nor sea, nor rivers, nor the nature of the air, nor the nature of the winds, nor the changes of the atmosphere, nor the appearances of any animals or plants, nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the multitude of the stars moving in well-arranged revolutions, nor the whole heaven, nor the entire world. [ibid]

This reference is particularly significant to connect the Essenes to the Levites and possibly the Therapeutae as well:

But since the blessing of the good has the precedence in panegyrics, and the affixing curses on the wicked is in the second rank of those who are appointed for these duties (and they are the chiefs, and leaders of the race, twelve in number, whom it is customary to call the patriarchs), he has assigned the better six, who are the best for the task of blessing, namely, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; and the others he has appointed for the curses, namely, the first and last sons of Leah, Reuben, and Zabulon, and the four bastard sons by the handmaidens; (74) for the chiefs of the royal tribe, and of the tribe consecrated to the priesthood, Judah and Levi, are reckoned in the former class. Very naturally, therefore, does God give up those who have done deeds worthy of death to the hands of others for punishment, wishing to teach us that the nature of evil is banished to a distance from the divine choir, since even punishment, which, though a good, has in it some imitation of evil, is confirmed by others. [ibid]

And it is worth while to examine with all the accuracy possible into some necessary points relating to this place. They are four in number. One, why it is that the cities which were set apart for the fugitives were not chosen out of those cities which the other tribes received as their portion, but only out of those which were assigned to the tribe of Levi. The second point is, why they were six in number, and neither more nor fewer. The third is, why three of them were beyond Jordan, and the other three in the land of the Canaanites. The fourth is, why the death of the high priest was appointed to the fugitives as a limit, after which they might return. (88) We must, therefore, say what is suitable on each of these heads, beginning with the first order. It is with exceeding propriety that the command is given to flee only to those cities which have been assigned to the tribe of Levi; for the Levites themselves are in a manner fugitives, inasmuch as they, for the sake of pleasing God, have left parents, and children, and brethren, and all their mortal relations. (89) Therefore the original leader of the company is represented as saying to his father and mother, "I have not seen you, and my brethren I do not know, and my sons I Disown,"{22}{#de 33:9.} in order to be able to serve the living God without allowing any opposite attraction to draw him away. But real flight is a deprivation of all that is nearest and dearest to man. And it introduces one fugitive to another, so as to make them forget what they have done by reason of the similarity of their actions. (90) Either, therefore, it is for this reason alone, or perhaps for this other also, that the Levitical tribe of the persons set apart for the service of the temple ran up, and at one onset slew those who had made a god of the golden calf, the pride of Egypt, killing all who had arrived at the age of puberty, being inflamed with righteous danger, combined with enthusiasm, and a certain heaven-sent inspiration: "And every one slew his brother, and his neighbour, and him that was nearest to Him."{23}{#ex 32:26.} The body being the brother of the soul, and the irrational part the neighbour of the rational, and the uttered speech that which is nearest to the mind. (91) For by the following means alone can that which is most excellent within us become adapted for and inclined to the service of him who is the most excellent of all existing beings. In the first place, if a man be resolved into soul, the body, which is akin to it as a brother, being separated and cut off from it, and also all its insatiable desires; and in the second place when the soul has, as I have already said, cast off the irrational part, which is the neighbour of the rational part; for this, like a torrent, being divided into five channels, excites the impetuosity of the passions through all the external senses, as so many aqueducts. (92) Then, in regular order, the reason removes to a distance and separates the uttered speech which appeared to be the nearest to it of all things, in order that speech, according to the intention, might alone be left, free from the body, free from the entanglements of the outward senses, and free from all uttered speech; for when it is left in this manner existing in a solitary manner, it will embrace that which alone is to be embraced with purity, and in such a way that it cannot be drawn away. (93) In addition to what has been said above, we must also mention this point, that the tribe of Levi is the tribe of the ministers of the temple and of the priests, to whom the service and ministration of holy things is assigned; and they also perform sacred service who have committed unintentional homicide, since, according to Moses, "God gives into their Hands"{24}{#ex 21:31.} those who have done things worthy of death, with a view to their execution. But it is the duty of the one body to know the good, and of the other body to chastise the wicked.

XVIII. (94) These then are the reasons on account of which they who have committed unintentional homicide fly only to those cities which belong to the ministers of the temple. We must now proceed to mention what these cities are, and why they are six in numbers. Perhaps we may say that the most ancient, and the strongest, and the most excellent metropolis, for I may not call it merely a city, is the divine word, to flee to which first is the most advantageous course of all. (95) But the other five, being as it were colonies of that one, are the powers of Him who utters the word, the chief of which is his creative power, according to which the Creator made the world with a word; the second is his kingly power, according to which he who has created rules over what is created; the third is his merciful power, in respect of which the Creator pities and shows mercy towards his own work; the fourth is his legislative power, by which he forbids what may not be done. [...]( 96) And these are the very beautiful and most excellently fenced cities, the best possible refuge for souls which are worthy to be saved for ever; and the establishment of them is merciful and humane, calculated to excite men, to aid and to encourage them in good hopes. Who else could more greatly display the exceeding abundance of his mercy, all of the powers which are able to benefit us, towards such an exceeding variety of persons who err by unintentional misdeeds, and who have neither the same strength nor the same weakness? (97) Therefore he exhorts him who is able to run swiftly to strain onwards, without stopping to take breath, to the highest word of God, which is the fountain of wisdom, in order that by drinking of that stream he may find everlasting life instead of death. But he urges him who is not so swift of foot to flee for refuge to the creative power which Moses calls God, since it is by that power that all things were made and arranged; for to him who comprehends that everything has been created, that comprehension alone, and the knowledge of the Creator, is a great acquisition of good, which immediately persuades the creature to love him who created it. (98) Him, again, who is still less ready he bids flee to his kingly power; for that which is in subjection is corrected by the fear of him who rules it, and by necessity which keeps it in order, even if the child is not kept in the right way by love for his father. Again, in the case of him who is not able to reach the boundaries which have been already mentioned, in respect of their being a long way off, there are other goals appointed for them at a shorter distance, the cities namely of the necessary powers, the city of the power of mercy, the city of the power which enjoins what is right, the city of the power which forbids what is not right: (99) for he who is already persuaded that the deity is not implacable, but is merciful by reason of the gentleness of his nature, then, even if he has previously sinned, subsequently repents from a hope of pardon. And he who has adopted the notion that God is a lawgiver obeys all the injunctions which as such he imposes, and so will be happy; and he who is last of all will find the last refuge, namely, the escape from evil, even though he may not be able to arrive at a participation in the more desirable good things. [ibid]

stephan huller

Moses has confessed that the first-fruits and the end belong to God, speaking of the creation of the world, where he says, "In the beginning God created ..."{42}{genesis 1:1.} And again he says, "God finished the heaven and the earth." (123) Now therefore he says, "Take for me," assigning to himself what becomes him, and admonishing his hearer not to adulterate what is given to him, but to take care of it in a manner worthy of its importance. And again, in another passage, he who has need of nothing, and who on this account takes nothing, will confess that he does take something, for the sake of giving to his worshippers the feeling of piety, and of implanting in them an eagerness after holiness, and moreover sharpening their zeal in his service, as one who favourably receives the genuine worship and service of a willing soul, (124) "For behold," says he, "I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born that openeth the womb among the children of Israel; they shall be their Ransom;"{43}{#nu 3:12.} therefore we take and give, but we are said to take with strict accuracy, but it is only by a metaphorical abuse of the term that we are said to give, for the reasons which I have already mentioned. And it is very felicitously that he has called the Levites a ransom, for nothing so completely conducts the mind to freedom as its fleeing for refuge to and becoming a suppliant of God; and this is what the consecrated tribe of the Levites particularly professes to be. [Who is the Heir of Divine Things]

The number of nine, when added to the number ninety, is very near to a hundred; in which number the self-taught race shone forth, namely Isaac, the most excellent joy of all enjoyments; for he was born when his father was a hundred years old. (2) Moreover the first fruits of the tribe of Levi are given up to the priests; {2}{#nu 18:26.} for they having taken tithes, offer up other tenths from them as from their own fruits, which thus comprise the number of a hundred; for the number ten is the symbol of improvement, and the number a hundred is the symbol of perfection; and he that is in the middle is always striving to reach the extremity, exerting the inborn goodness of his nature, by which he says, that the Lord of the universe has appeared to him [On the Change of Names]

And Moses also made the vestibule of the sacred tabernacle in a hundred arches, {68}{#ex 27:9.} measuring out the distance towards the east and towards the west. (191) Moreover the ratio of a hundred is the first fruit of the first fruit which the Levites assign to those who are consecrated to the priesthood; {69}{#nu 18:28.} for after they have taken the tenth from the nation they are enjoined to give unto the priests a sacred tenth of the whole share, as if from their own possessions. [ibid 191]
When we bring home the legitimate fruit of the mind, does not the sacred scripture enjoin us to display in our reason, as in a sacred basket, the first fruits of our fertility; a specimen of the glorious flowers, and shoots, and fruits which the soul has brought forth, bidding us speak out distinctly, and to utter panegyrics on the God who brings things to perfection, and to say, "I have cleared away the things which were holy out of my house, and I have arranged them in the house of God:"{122}{#de 26:13.} appointing as stewards and guardians of them, men selected for their superior merit, and giving them the charge of these sacred things; (2.273) and these persons are Levites, proselytes, and orphans, and widows. But some are suppliants, some are emigrants and fugitives, some are persons widowed and destitute of all created things, but enrolled as belonging to God, the genuine husband and father of the soul which is inclined to worship.

And as the smaller body had received each a larger share of the booty, by reason of their having been the foremost in encountering danger, and the larger body had received each a smaller share, by reason of their having remained at home; it appeared indispensable that they should consecrate the first fruits of the whole of the booty; those therefore who had remained at home brought a fiftieth, and those who had been actually engaged in the war, brought and contributed a five hundredth part; and of ten first fruits Moses commanded that portion which came from those who had borne a part in the expedition, to be given to the high priest, and that portion which came from those who had remained in the camp, to the keepers of the temple whose name were the Levites. (317) And the captains of thousands, and centurions, and all the rest of the multitude of commanders of battalions and companies willingly contributed special first fruits, as an offering for their own safety, and that of those who had gone out to war, and for the victory which had been gained in a manner beyond all hope, giving up all the golden ornaments which had fallen to the lot of each individual, in the apportionment of the booty, and the most costly vessels, of which the material was gold. [On the Life of Moses 1]

Now of the others, some resisted by reason of the admiration which they had conceived for the Egyptian pride, and they did not attend to what he said; others wanted courage to come nearer to him, perhaps out of fear of punishment; or else perhaps they dreaded punishment at the hand of Moses, or a rising up against them on the part of the people; for the multitude invariably attack those who do not share in their frenzy. (170) But that single tribe of the whole number which was called the tribe of Levi, when they heard the proclamation, as if by one preconcerted agreement, ran with great haste, displaying their earnestness by their promptness and rapidity, and proving the keenness of the desire of their soul for piety; (171) and, when Moses saw them rushing forward as if starting from the goal in a race, he said, "Surely it is not with your bodies alone that you are hastening to come unto me, but you shall soon bear witness with your minds to your eagerness; let every one of you take a sword, and slay those men who have done things worthy of ten thousand deaths, who have forsaken the true God, and made for themselves false gods, of perishable and created substances, calling them by the name which belongs only to the uncreated and everlasting God; let every one, I say, slay those men, whether it be his own kinsmen or his friends, looking upon nothing to be either friendship or kindred but the holy fellowship of good men." (172) And the tribe of Levi, outrunning his command with the most eager readiness, since they were already alienated from those men in their minds, almost from the first moment that they beheld the beginning of their lawless iniquity, killed them all to a man, to the number of three thousand, though they had been but a short time before their dearest friends; and as the corpses were lying in the middle of the place of the assembly of the people, the multitude beholding them pitied them, and fearing the still fervid, and angry, and indignant disposition of those who had slain them, reproved them out of fear; (173) but Moses, gladly approving of their exceeding virtue, devised in their favour and confirmed to them an honour which was appropriate to their exploit, for it was fitting that those who had undertaken a voluntary war for the sake of the honour of God, and who had carried it out successfully in a short time, should be thought worthy to receive the priesthood and charge of officiating in his service. (174) But, since there is not one order only of consecrated priests, but since to some of them the charge is committed of attending to all the prayers, and sacrifices, and other most sacred ceremonies, being allowed to enter into the inmost and most holy shrine; while others are not permitted to do any of these things, but have the duty of taking care of and guarding the temple and all that is therein, both day and night, whom some call keepers of the temple; a sedition arose respecting the precedency in honour, which was to many persons in many ways the cause of infinite evils, and it broke out now from the keepers of the temple attacking the priests, and endeavouring to deprive them of the honour which belonged to them; and they thought that they should be able easily to succeed in their object, since they were many times more numerous than the others. (175) But for the sake of not appearing to be planning any innovations of their own heads, they persuaded also the eldest of the twelve tribes to embrace their opinions, which last tribe was followed by many of the more fickle of the populace, as thinking it entitled to the precedence and to the principal share of authority over the whole host. [On the Life of Moses 2]

Therefore, it did not confirm the houses in these cities in the same manner that it did those in the other cities which are built within walls, to the purchasers, if those who had sold them were not able to redeem them within the year, but it permitted them to be redeemed at any time, like the open houses in the country taken from the gentiles, to which they corresponded. Since the Levites had received only houses in this district, of which the lawgiver did not think it fit that those who received them should be deprived any more than those to whom the allotments of the open houses in the country had fallen. And this is enough to say about the houses. [The Special Laws 2]

In the fourth place, it is compounded of four numbers, of one triangle, namely fifteen; and of another square, namely twenty-five; and of a third quinquangular figure, thirty-five; and of a fourth a sexangular figure forty-five, by the same analogy: for the fifth is always received according to each appearance; for from the unity of the triangles the fifth number becomes fifteen; again the fifth of the quadrangular number from the unit makes twenty-five; and the fifth of the quinquangular number from the unit makes thirty-five; and the fifth of the sexangular number from the unit makes forty-five. But every one of these numbers is a divine and sacred number, consisting of fifteens as has been already shown; and the number twenty-five belongs to the tribe of Levi.{10}{see #Nu 8:24.} [Questions and Answer Genesis 1]

stephan huller

10. (Ex. xii. 6b) " And," He says, " all the multitude shall sacrifice." "Now at other times the daily priests * (chosen) from the people, being appointed for the slaughtering and taking care of them, performed the sacrifices. But at the Passover," here spoken of, the whole people together is honoured with the priesthood, for all of them act for themselves ** in the performance of the sacrifice. For what reason ? Because, in the first place,* it was the beginning of this kind of sacrifice, the Levites not yet having been elected ^ to the priesthood nor a temple set up. And in the second place, because the Saviour and Liberator," Who alone leads out all men to freedom, deemed them (all) equally worthy

stephan huller

The question now comes what does Philo mean by 'contemplative life.' Many in antiquity use the same term θεωρητικός - to mean study the stars or astrology:

Philo also applies the terminology of the βιός πρακτικός (active or practical life) and the βιός θεωρητικός (contemplative life) to the spiritual trajectory symbolized by Jacob-Israel and Levi-Simeon. The 'active life' - participation in both private and public life - as a prelude to the contemplative life.

More on Clement's use of θεωρητικός:

stephan huller

Here is an example for those who don't understand how Philo used the word 'therapeutae' (the author is his 'student' Clement of Alexandria):

stephan huller

So after going through all this research tonight, here is what I think is true about the Therapeutae mentioned in Philo. I think that this Greek term goes back to the Hebrew for 'Simeonites.' Philo has a discernible interest in the Levites (the sons of Levi). He identifies them with the 'practical life' because of their role in the traditional religion of Israel. There is some sense in his writings that priests when they reached a certain age left serving on the altar and partook of the 'contemplative life.' What that means exactly I am not sure. But it may point to some of them living in something like the Qumran community.

My guess is that while this pattern for living was well established for the Levites and widely reported in his time, the existence of a sect identifying themselves as 'those who attended' or 'listened' to God (= Simeonites) was less well known. They were the original monastic community in Israel. They were not Christian but nevertheless closely related to early Christianity. The idea of calling one self a 'Simeonite' made sense because this was a tribe which had no portion of the land in Israel. They presumably sojourners in the land and may well have been strongly connected with proselytes. Philo's remarks about criminals who commit 'unintentional murder' may have some relation to this community too.

Sheshbazzar

So that's what you think. I don't find your reasonings to be particularly persuasive, and certainly nothing that I would personally be inclined to hang my hat on or ever repeat to anyone off Forum.
One of those views that now that you have stated it, I'll be aware of but not about to endorse.

_Why not just pick up a can of spray paint and graffiti subway cars with your message?

stephan huller

My point wasn't to say that you - Shesh - should pick up a can of spray paint - but IF you don't care about about the great good of knowledge and communicating with others in a meaningful way - THEN you might as well use the spray paint.

Iskander

We care about those very things, but you seem to post for your own pleasure and it is becoming an abusive extravaganza.

stephan huller

Another reference to the word 'therapeutae' (Gk = ) in the second century Church Father Melito of Sardis as quoted in the Chronicon Paschale 483:


Οὐκ ἐσμὲν λίθων οὐδεμίαν αἴσθησιν ἐχόντων θεραπευταί, ἀλλὰ μόνου θεοῦ τοῦ πρὸ πάντων καὶ ἐπὶ πάντων καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ ὄντος θεοῦ λόγου πρὸ αἰώνων ἐσμὲν θρησκευταί

We are not those who offer worship to stones, not one of which has sensation, but we are worshippers of the only God who is before all things and over all things and of God's (his) Messiah who is the Word of God before all time.