Name of God and Triple Exegesis




[1] THE LIFE of MOSES	De vita Mosis (lib. i-ii), Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, vol. 4, ed. L. Cohn (Reimer Berlin 1902, De Gruyter, Berlin 1962) pp 119-268



Name of God: Levels of Teaching

[1.]75 And first of all say to them that I am He Who is, so that they may learn [both] the difference between being and non-being, and the even more advanced [teaching] that no name can be properly used of Me, to Whom alone existence belongs.	^1.75 [...] ὁ δὲ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον λέγε φησίν αὐτοῖς͵ ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν͵ ἵνα μαθόντες διαφορὰν ὄντος τε καὶ μὴ ὄντος προσαναδιδαχθῶσιν͵ ὡς οὐδὲν ὄνομα τὸ παράπαν ἐπ΄ ἐμοῦ ^1.76κυριολογεῖται͵ ᾧ μόνῳ πρόσεστι τὸ εἶναι.

[1.]76 […] AND if, because of their natural weakness, they seek some title, tell them not only that I am God, but also the God of those three men who are named for virtue:	^1.76 ἐὰν δ' ἀσθενέστεροι τὰς φύσεις ὄντες ἐπιζητῶσι πρόσρησιν, δήλωσον αὐτοῖς μὴ μόνον τοῦθ' ὅτι \| θεός εἰμι, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ τριῶν τῶν ἐπωνύμων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετῆς,
[1] that I am the God of Abraham, [2] and the God of Isaac, [3] and the God of Jacob;	θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ θεὸς Ἰακώβ,
[1] one of whom is the rule of that wisdom which is derived from teaching [2] another of natural wisdom; [3] the third of wisdom from ascetical [practice]	ὧν ὁ μὲν τῆς διδακτῆς, ὁ δὲ τῆς φυσικῆς, ὁ δὲ τῆς ἀσκητικῆς σοφίας κανών ἐστιν.




[2] on THE CHANGE of NAMES 11-12 De Mutatione Nominum	De mutatione nominum, Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, vol. 3, ed. L. Cohn (Reimer Berlin 1902, De Gruyter, Berlin 1962) pp 156-203



Name of God: Three Natural Orders

Note that when the prophet desires to know what he must answer to those who ask about his name he says, "I am He that is" (Ex 3,14), which is equivalent to "My nature is to be, not to be spoken."	οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι φιλοπευστοῦντι τῷ προ φήτῃ͵ τί τοῖς περὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ζητοῦσιν ἀποκριτέον͵ φησὶν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν (Exod. 3, 14)͵ ἴσον τῷ εἶναι πέφυκα͵ οὐ λέγεσθαι;
Yet that the human race should not totally lack a title to give to the supreme goodness He allows them to use by license of language as though it were His proper name:	12 τοῦ δὲ μὴ παντάπασιν ἀμοιρῆσαι τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος προσρήσεως τοῦ ἀρίστου͵ δίδωσι καταχρῆσθαι ὡς ἂν ὁ ὢν ὀνόματι τοιούτῳ·
the Lord God of three natural orders,	κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν τριῶν φύσεων͵
teaching, perfection, practice,	διδασκαλίας͵ τελειότητος͵ ἀσκήσεως͵
which are symbolized as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the writings	ὧν σύμβολα Ἀβραάμ͵ Ἰσαάκ͵ Ἰακὼβ ἀναγράφεται.




De sac 5-7[Loeb, Philo V, App, p. 586]
Appendix: vol 5 on De Mut: This favourite idea of the “educational trinity” stated by Aristotle in the form παιδεία δεΐν τριών, φύσεως, διδασκαλίας, ασκήσεως, is several times applied by Philo to Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob respectively. See note on De Sac. 5-7. But the representation of Isaac as τελειότης (Joh. Dam.) or όσιότης ( M S S . ) instead of as φύσις or αύτομαθής does not seem appropriate, and is not, as far as I have seen, paralleled elsewhere. It may be worth consideration whether Philo wrote τών τριών, φύσεως, διδασκαλίας, ασκήσεως, and when φύσβως had been corrupted to φύσεων the blank thus created for Isaac was variously filled up. That the things symbolized should then be given in their ordinary order and the symbols in their historical order would not, I think, be unnatural. Mangey proposed φύσεως in place of δσιότητος, which seems somewhat more arbitrary.

Appendix Vol. 2 on Sacr . §§ 5-7. In these sections we have a suggestion of the idea, to which Philo frequently recurs, of the "educational trinity," stated by Aristotle in the form παιδεία δεΐν τριών, φύσεως, διδασκαλίας, ασκήσεως. Philo takes as the typical examples of these three, Isaac, Abraham and Jacob, see particularly De Abr. 52 if., where Isaac is ό αύτομαθοΰς επιστήμης αξιωθείς, Abraham represents oi μαθήσει και διδασκαλία προκύψαντες (in De Abr. he is called the σύμβόλον διδασκαλικής αρετής), while Jacob as usual is the ασκητής.




THE SACRIFICES of ABEL and CAIN, 5-10 (theosis)	De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini , Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, vol. 1, ed. L. Cohn (Reimer Berlin 1896, De Gruyter, Berlin 1962) pp 202-257



Abraham - Angelic Teaching

God, therefore, by adding the good doctrine, Abel, to the soul, took away the foolish opinion, Cain. And Abraham too, leaving mortal things, “is added to the people of God,” (Gen 35.8), having received immortality and and became equal to the angels, for the angels are the army of God, being incorporeal and happy souls.	⁵ […] προσθεὶς οὖν ὁ θεὸς τῇ ψυχῇ καλὸν δόγμα τὸν Ἄβελ ἀφεῖλεν αὐτῆς δόξαν ἄτοπον τὸν Κάιν. καὶ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐκλιπὼν τὰ θνητὰ προστίθεται τῷ θεοῦ λαῷ (Gen. 25, 8)͵ καρπούμενος ἀφθαρσίαν͵ ἴσος ἀγγέλοις γεγονώς· ἄγγελοι γὰρ στρατός εἰσι θεοῦ͵ ἀσώματοι καὶ εὐδαίμονες ψυχαί·

Jacob - Ascetic

And we read that in the same way the “practitioner,” [ascetic] Jacob, is added to something better when he left the worse (Gen 49.33).	ὅ τε ἀσκητὴς τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον Ἰακὼβ λέγεται προστίθεσθαι τῷ βελτίονι (Gen. 49, 33)͵ ⁶ ὅτε ἐξέλιπε τὸ χεῖρον.

Isaac - Autodidact Advancing to Perfection

And Isaac, who was deemed worthy of self-taught knowledge, of his own accord also leaves all the corporeal essence which was attached to his soul, and is added to and made an inheritor with. not the “people,” as the others whom I have mentioned were, but rather with the “race,”(Gen. 35, 29) as Moses says: for “race” is one, and the highest of all; but “people,” is the name of many.	ὁ δὲ αὐτομαθοῦς ἐπιστήμης ἀξιωθεὶς Ἰσαὰκ ἐκλείπει μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς ὅσον σωματοειδὲς αὐτοῦ τῇ ψυχῇ συνύφαντο͵ προστίθεται δὲ καὶ προσκληροῦται οὐκέθ΄ ὡς οἱ πρότεροι λαῷ͵ γένει δέ͵ καθάπερ φησὶ Μωυσῆς (Gen. 35, 29)· γένος μὲν γὰρ ἓν τὸ ⁷ ἀνωτάτω͵ λαὸς δὲ ὄνομα πλειόνων·
⁷ Those, therefore, who by instruction and teaching have improved and at last arrived at perfection, are classed among the larger number. Nor is number insignificant of those who have learnt from oral instruction and demonstration, and whom [Moses ]calls the “people.”	ὅσοι μὲν οὖν μαθήσει καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ προκόψαντες ἐτελειώθησαν͵ προσκληροῦνται πλείοσιν· οὐ γὰρ ὀλίγος ἐστὶν ἀριθμὸς τῶν ἐξ ἀκοῆς καὶ ὑφηγήσεως μανθανόντων͵ οὓς λαὸν ὠνόμασεν·
But those who have forsaken human instruction, having become well-disposed disciples of God, and having arrived at a comprehension of knowledge acquired without labour, have passed over to the immortal and most perfect race of beings, and have so received an inheritance better than the former generations of created men - of these Isaac is reckoned as a companion.	οἱ δὲ ἀνθρώπων μὲν ὑφηγήσεις ἀπολελοιπότες͵ μαθηταὶ δὲ εὐφυεῖς θεοῦ γεγονότες͵ τὴν ἄπονον ἐπιστήμην ἀνειληφότες͵ εἰς τὸ ἄφθαρτον καὶ τελεώτατον γένος μετανίστανται κλῆρον ἀμείνω τῶν προτέρων ⁸ ἐνδεδεγμένοι͵ ὧν ὁ Ἰσαὰκ θιασώτης ἀνωμολόγηται.

MOSES - HIGHEST of ALL: DEIFICATION

III. There is also another [proof that the mind is immortal/or: thought occurs to us]: There are some whom [God] has advanced to higher degrees of improvement, able to soar above all species and genera: for has placed them beside himself; as he says to Moses, “But you, stand here with Me.” (Deut 5.31).	δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ ἕτερον τοιοῦτον νοῦν ἀθάνατον. εἰσὶ δὲ οὓς ἀνωτέρω προαγαγὼν εἴδη μὲν καὶ γένη πάντα ὑπερπτῆναι παρεσκεύασεν͵ ἵδρυσε δὲ πλησίον ἑαυτοῦ͵ καθὰ καὶ Μωυσῆς ᾧ φησι· σὺ δὲ αὐτοῦ στῆθι μετ΄ ἐμοῦ (Deut. 5, 31).
Therefore when Moses was about to die we do not hear of him “leaving” or “being added” like those [described above]: he progresses neither by being added or taken away. Instead, through the Original Word [rema] he is removed (Deut 34.5), indeed through that Word by which also the whole universe was formed [edēmiourgeito].	ἡνίκα γοῦν τελευτᾶν ἔμελλεν οὗτος͵ οὐκ ἐκλιπὼν προστίθεται ὥσπερ οἱ πρότεροι μήτε πρόσθεσιν μήτε ἀφαίρεσιν κεχωρηκώς͵ ἀλλὰ διὰ ῥήματος τοῦ αἰτίου μετανίσταται (Deut. 34, 5)͵ δι΄ οὗ καὶ ὁ σύμπας κόσμος ἐδημιουργεῖτο·
Thus you may learn that God prizes the wise as [much as] the world: for that same Word [logos] by which He made the universe is that by which He draws the perfect person from earthly things to Himself.	ἵνα μάθῃς͵ ὅτι τὸν σοφὸν ἰσότιμον κόσμῳ ὁ θεὸς ἡγεῖται τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἐργαζόμενος καὶ τὸν ⁹ τέλειον ἀπὸ τῶν περιγείων ἀνάγων ὡς ἑαυτόν.
And even when [God] gave him the use of earthly things and required him to dwell among them, he gave him not the kind of power power he might exercise in common with an earthly governor or monarch, by which he should forcibly rule over the passions of the soul; rather, he appointed him a [kind of] god, making the whole of the body, and the mind [nous], which is the ruler of the body, subjects and slaves to him, “For I give you," He says, “as a god to Pharaoh.” (Exod. 7, 1)	οὐ μὴν οὐδέ͵ ὅτε τοῖς περιγείοις χρήσας αὐτὸν εἴασεν ἐνομιλεῖν͵ ἄρχοντος ἢ βασιλέως κοινήν τινα ἀρετὴν ἀνῆπτεν αὐτῷ͵ καθ΄ ἣν ἀνὰ κράτος ἡγεμονεύσει τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς παθῶν͵ ἀλλ΄ εἰς θεὸν αὐτὸν ἐχειροτόνει πᾶσαν τὴν περὶ τὸ σῶμα χώραν καὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα αὐτῆς νοῦν ὑπήκοα καὶ δοῦλα ἀποφήνας· δίδωμι γάρ σε φησί θεὸν Φαραώ (Exod. 7, 1)·
But God is subject to neither increase nor decrease, being fully and absolutely equivalent to himself. And we are thus told that no one knows [Moses’] grave (Deut. 34.6).	θεὸς δὲ ἔλλειψιν ¹⁰ ἢ πρόσθεσιν οὐκ ἀνέχεται πλήρης καὶ ἰσαίτατος ὢν ἑαυτῷ. παρὸ καὶ τὴν ταφὴν λέγεται μηδὲ εἷς εἰδέναι τούτου (Deut. 34, 6)·
for who could be competent to perceive the migration of a perfect soul to the Extant One? Nor do I think the [soul] thus passing is conscious of its own improvement:	τίς γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο ἱκανὸς τὴν πρὸς τὸν ὄντα μετανάστασιν ψυχῆς τελείας κατανοῆσαι; οὐδὲ αὐτὴν οἶμαι τὴν τοῦθ΄ ὑπομένουσαν εἰδέναι τὴν βελτίωσιν αὑτῆς͵
for at that time it is becoming divine [epitheiazousan].	ἅτε κατ΄ ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ἐπιθειάζουσαν·
For God does not consult with those whom He benefits concerning the gifts He means to bestow; rather, he is accustomed to pour His beneficence unstintingly upon those who have no thought of them.	τῷ γὰρ εὖ πάσχοντι συμβούλῳ ὁ θεὸς περὶ ὧν μέλλει χαρίζεσθαι οὐ χρῆται͵ μὴ προλαβόντι δὲ τὰς εὐεργεσίας ἀφθόνους εἴωθεν ὀρέγειν.
This is something like the meaning of God's adding to the mind the birth of the perfect good. For the good is holiness and its name is “Abel”	τοιοῦτόν ἐστι τὸ προσθεῖναι θεὸν γένεσιν ἀγαθοῦ τελείου διανοίᾳ· τὸ δὲ ἀγαθὸν ὁσιότης ἐστίν͵ ἧς ὄνομα v.

Threefold Virtue Intertwines-not just successive


INTERTWINING THREEFOLD VIRTUE (Abraham 10-11)	De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini , Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, vol. 1, ed. L. Cohn (Reimer Berlin 1896, De Gruyter, Berlin 1962) pp 202-257



X. (48) I have now then explained the character of the first triad of those who desire virtue. There is also another more important company of which we must now proceed to speak, for the former resembles those branches of instruction which are allotted to the age of childhood, but this resembles rather the gymnastic exercises of athletic men, who are really preparing themselves for the sacred contests, who, despising all care of getting their body into proper condition, labour to bring about a healthy state of the soul, being desirous of that victory which is to be gained over the adverse passions. (49) The particulars then on which each individual differs from the other, though all are hastening to one and the same end, we will hereafter examine more minutely; but it is necessary not to pass over in silence what it seems desirable to premise concerning the whole three taken together. (50) It happens then that they are all three of one household and of one family, for the last of the three is the son of the middle one, and the grandson of the first; and they are all lovers of God, and beloved by God, loving the only God, and being loved in return by him who has chosen, as the holy scriptures tell us, by reason of the excess of their virtues in which they lived, to give them also a share of the same appellation as himself; (51) for having added his own peculiar name to their names he has united them together, appropriating to himself an appellation composed of the three names: “For,” says God, “this is my everlasting name: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,”{8}{#ex 3:15.} using there the relative term instead of the absolute one; and this is very natural, for God stands in no need of a name. But though he does not stand in any such need, nevertheless he bestows his own title on the human race that they may have a refuge to which to betake themselves in supplications and prayers, and so may not be destitute of a good hope.	48 Ἡ μὲν οὖν προτέρα τριὰς τῶν ἀρετὴν ἐπιποθησάντων δε δήλωται. μείζων δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἑτέρα͵ περὶ ἧς νυνὶ λεκτέον. ἐκείνη μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ παιδικῇ μαθήμασιν ἔοικεν͵ αὕτη δὲ τοῖς ἀνδρῶν ἀθλητικῶν γυμνάσμασιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ὄντως ἀλειφομένων ἀγῶνας͵ οἳ σωμασκίας καταφρονοῦντες τὴν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κατασκευάζουσιν εὐεξίαν 49 ἐφιέμενοι τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων παθῶν νίκης. οἷς μὲν οὖν διενήνοχεν ἕκαστος ἐφ΄ ἓν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τέλος ἐπειγόμενος͵ αὖθις ἀκριβέστερον ἐροῦμεν· ἃ δὲ χρὴ περὶ τῶν τριῶν συλλήβδην προειπεῖν͵ ἀναγκαῖον 50 μὴ παρασιωπῆσαι. τούτους τοίνυν συμβέβηκε μιᾶς οἰκίας καὶ ἑνὸς γένους εἶναιὁ γὰρ τελευταῖος υἱὸς μέν ἐστι τοῦ μέσου͵ υἱωνὸς δὲ τοῦ πρώτουκαὶ πάντας φιλοθέους ὁμοῦ καὶ θεοφιλεῖς͵ ἀγαπήσαντας τὸν ἀληθῆ θεὸν καὶ ἀνταγαπηθέντας πρὸς αὐτοῦ͵ ὃς ἠξίωσε͵ καθάπερ δη λοῦσιν οἱ χρησμοί͵ διὰ τὰς ὑπερβολὰς τῶν ἀρετῶν αἷς συνεβίουν 51 κοινωνῆσαι τῆς προσρήσεως αὐτοῦ. τὸ γὰρ ἴδιον ὄνομα τοῖς ἐκείνων ἐναρμοσάμενος ἥνωσε͵ τὴν ἐκ τῶν τριῶν σύνθετον κλῆσιν ἐπιφημίσας ἑαυτῷ· τοῦτο γάρ μου φησίν ὄνομά ἐστιν αἰώνιον͵ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ θεὸς Ἰακώβ ( cf. Exod. 3, 15 )ἀντὶ τοῦ καθάπαξ τὸ πρός τι· καὶ μήποτ΄ εἰκότως· ὀνόματος γὰρ ὁ θεὸς οὐ δεῖται͵ μὴ δεόμενος δ΄ ὅμως ἐχαρίζετο τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων κλῆσιν οἰκείαν͵ ἵν΄ ἔχοντες καταφυγὴν πρὸς ἱκεσίας καὶ λιτὰς μὴ ἀμοιρῶσιν ἐλπίδος
XI. (52) This then is what appears to be said of these holy men; and it is indicative of a nature more remote from our knowledge than, and much superior to, that which exists in the objects of outward sense; for the sacred word appears thoroughly to investigate and to describe the different dispositions of the soul, being all of them good, the one aiming at what is good by means of instruction, the second by nature, the last by practice; for the first, who is named Abraham, is a symbol of that virtue which is derived from instruction; the intermediate Isaac is an emblem of natural virtue; the third, Jacob, of that virtue which is devoted to and derived from practice. (53) But we must not be ignorant that each of these men was endowed with all these powers, but that each derived his name from that one which predominated in him and mastered the others; for neither is it possible for instruction to be made perfect without natural endowments and practice, nor is nature able to arrive at the goal without instruction and practice, nor is practice unless it be founded on natural gifts and sound instruction. (54) Very appropriately, therefore, he has represented, as united by relationship, these three, which in name indeed are men, but in reality, as I have said before, virtues, nature, instruction, and practice, which men also call by another name, and entitle them the three graces (charites), either from the fact of God having bestowed (kecharisthai) on our race those three powers, in order to produce the perfection of life, or because they themselves have bestowed themselves on the rational soul as the most glorious of gifts, so that the eternal name, as set forth in the scriptures, may not be used in conjunction with three men, but rather with the aforesaid powers; (55) for the nature of mankind is mortal, but that of virtues is immortal; and it is more reasonable that the name of the everlasting God should be conjoined with what is immortal than with what is mortal, since what is immortal is akin to what is imperishable, but death is hostile to it.	52 χρηστῆς. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπ΄ ἀνδρῶν ὁσίων εἰρῆσθαι δοκεῖ͵ μηνύματα δ΄ ἐστὶ φύσεως ἀδηλοτέρας καὶ πολὺ βελτίονος τῆς ἐν αἰσθητοῖς. τρόπους γὰρ ψυχῆς ἔοικεν ὁ ἱερὸς διερευνᾶσθαι λόγος͵ ἀστείους ἅπαντας͵ τὸν μὲν ἐκ διδασκαλίας͵ τὸν δ΄ ἐκ φύσεως͵ τὸν δ΄ ἐξ ἀσκήσεως ἐφιέ μενον τοῦ καλοῦ. ὁ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτος͵ ἐπίκλησιν Ἀβραάμ͵ σύμβολον διδασκαλικῆς ἀρετῆς ἐστιν͵ ὁ δὲ μέσος͵ Ἰσαάκ͵ φυσικῆς͵ ὁ δὲ τρίτος͵ 53 Ἰακώβ͵ ἀσκητικῆς. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ ἀγνοητέον͵ ὅτι μετεποιεῖτο τῶν τριῶν ἕκαστος δυνάμεων͵ ὠνομάσθη δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πλεοναζούσης κατ΄ ἐπικράτειαν· οὔτε γὰρ διδασκαλίαν ἄνευ φύσεως ἢ ἀσκήσεως τελειωθῆναι δυνατὸν οὔτε φύσις ἐπὶ πέρας ἐστὶν ἐλθεῖν ἱκανὴ δίχα τοῦ μαθεῖν καὶ ἀσκῆσαι οὔτε ἄσκησις͵ εἰ μὴ προθεμελιωθείη φύσει τε καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ. 54 προσηκόντως οὖν καὶ τὴν τῶν τριῶν λόγῳ μὲν ἀνδρῶν ἔργῳ δ΄ ὡς εἶ πον ἀρετῶν οἰκειότητα συνῆψε͵ φύσεως͵ μαθήσεως͵ ἀσκήσεως͵ ἃς ἑτέρῳ ὀνόματι Χάριτας ἰσαρίθμους ἄνθρωποι καλοῦσιν͵ ἢ τῷ κεχαρίσθαι τὸν θεὸν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ γένει τὰς τρεῖς δυνάμεις πρὸς τελειότητα τοῦ βίου ἢ παρόσον αὗται δεδώρηνται ψυχῇ λογικῇ ἑαυτάς͵ δώρημα τέλειον καὶ κάλλιστον͵ ἵνα καὶ τὸ αἰώνιον ὄνομα τὸ δηλούμενον ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς ἐπὶ τριῶν μὴ ἐπ΄ ἀνθρώπων μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν εἰρημένων δυνάμεων 55 λέγηται. ἀνθρώπων μὲν γὰρ φθαρτὴ φύσις͵ ἄφθαρτος δ΄ ἡ τῶν ἀρετῶν· εὐλογώτερον δὲ ἐπιφημίζεσθαι τὸ ἀίδιον ἀφθάρτοις πρὸ θνητῶν͵ ἐπεὶ 56 συγγενὲς μὲν ἀιδιότητος ἀφθαρσία͵ ἐχθρὸν δὲ θάνατος.
THREEFOLD_VIRTUE


THREEFOLD VIRTUE (Joseph 1)	De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini , Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, vol. 1, ed. L. Cohn (Reimer Berlin 1896, De Gruyter, Berlin 1962) pp 202-257


(1) There are three different modes by which we proceed towards the most excellent end, namely,	1 Τρεῖς μέν εἰσιν ἰδέαι͵ δι΄ ὧν τὸ ἄριστον τέλος͵
instruction, nature, and practice.	μάθησις͵ φύσις͵ ἄσκησις͵
There are also three persons, the oldest of the wise men who in the account given to us by Moses derive three names from these modes, whose lives I have now discussed, having examined the man who arrived at excellence	τρεῖς δὲ καὶ σοφῶν οἱ πρεσβύτατοι κατὰ Μωυσῆν ἐπώ νυμοι τούτων· ὧν τοὺς βίους ἀναγεγραφώς͵
in consequence of instruction, and him who was self-taught, and him who attained to the proposed end by practice.	τόν τε ἐκ διδασκαλίας καὶ τὸν αὐτομαθῆ καὶ τὸν ἀσκητικόν͵

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