6. AND from the very first day of his receiving us (which day was, in truth, the first day to me, and the most precious of all days, if I may so speak, since then for the first time the true Sun began to rise upon me), while we, like some wild creatures of the fields, or like fish, or some sort of birds that had fallen into the toils or nets, and were endeavouring to slip out again and escape, were bent on leaving him, and making off for Berytus or our native country, he studied by all means to associate us closely with him, contriving all kinds of arguments, and putting every rope in motion (as the proverb goes), and bringing all his powers to bear on that object.

6 Ὁ δ' ὑποδεξάμενος ἐξ ἡμέρας τῆς πρώτης, τῆς ὄντως ἐμοὶ πρώτης, τῆς τιμιωτάτης πασῶν, εἰ δεῖ λέγειν, ἡμερῶν, ὅτε μοι πρῶτον ὁ ἀληθινὸς ἀνατέλλειν ἥλιος ἤρξατο, πρῶτον μέν, ὥσπερ θῆράς τινας ἀγρίους ἢ ἰχθύας ἤ τινας ὄρνεις, ἐμπεσόντας μὲν εἰς τὰς ἄρκυς ἢ εἰς τὰς σαγήνας, ἐξολισθαίνειν δὲ καὶ ἀποδιδράσκειν πειρωμένους, ἀναχωρεῖν τε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ βουλομένους ἐπὶ τὴν Βηρυτὸν ἢ ἐπὶ τὴν πατρίδα, συνδήσασθαι πάντα τρόπον ἐμη χανήσατο· πάντας λόγους στρέφων καὶ πάντα κάλων (τοῦτο δὴ τὸ τοῦ λόγου) κινῶν καὶ πάσας τὰς δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ προχειριζόμενος·

With that intent he praised the lovers of philosophy with great praise and many noble utterances,

ἐπαινῶν μὲν φιλοσοφίαν καὶ τοὺς φιλοσοφίας ἐραστὰς μακροῖς τοῖς ἐπαίνοις καὶ πολλοῖς τοῖς τε προσήκουσι,

declaring that those only live a life truly worthy of reasonable creatures

τούτους μόνους ζῆν ὄντως τὸν λογικοῖς προσήκοντα βίον λέγων,

who aim all living an upright life,

τοὺς ὀρθῶς βιοῦν ἐπιτηδεύοντας,

and who seek to know first of all themselves, what manner of persons they are,

ἑαυτούς τε γινώσκοντας πρῶτον οἵτινές εἰσι,

and then the things that are essentially good, which man ought to strive after,

κἄπειτα τὰ ὄντως ἀγαθά ,ἃ μεταδιώκειν ἄνθρωπον χρή,

and then the things that are truly evil, from which man ought to flee.

καὶ τὰ ἀληθῶς κακά, ὧν ἀποτρέχειν δεῖ·

And then he reprehended ignorance and all the ignorant: and there are many such, who, like brute cattle, are blind in mind, and have no understanding even of what they are, and are as far astray as though they were wholly void of reason,

ψέγων δὲ τὴν ἀμαθίαν καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀμαθεῖς· πολλοὶ δὲ οὗτοι, ὅσοι θρεμμάτων δίκην τυφλώττοντες τὸν νοῦν, οὐδ' αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅπερ εἰσὶν ἐγνωκότες, ὥσπερ ἄλογοι πεπλανημένοι,

and neither know themselves what is good and what is evil, nor care at all to learn it from others, but toil feverishly in quest of wealth, and glory, and such honours as belong to the crowd, and bodily comforts, and go distraught about things like these, as if they were the real good.

ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακὸν ὅ τι ποτέ ἐστιν ὅλως οὔτε εἰδότες αὐτοὶ οὔτε μαθεῖν θέλοντες, ὡς ἐπὶ ἀγαθὸν ἄττουσι καὶ ἐπτόηνται χρήματα καὶ δόξας καὶ τιμὰς τὰς ἀπὸ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ τὴν τοῦ σώματος εὐεξίαν,

And as though such objects were worth much, yea, worth all else, they prize the things themselves, and the arts by which they can acquire them, and the different lines of life which give scope for their attainment,—the military profession, to wit, and the juridical, and the study of the laws. And with earnest and sagacious words he told us that these are the objects that enervate us, when we despise that reason which ought to be the true master within us.

αὐτά τε περὶ πολλοῦ καὶ τοῦ παντὸς τιθέμενοι, καὶ τῶν τεχνῶν, ὅσαι ταῦτα ἐκπορίζεσθαι δύνανται, καὶ τῶν βίων, ὅσοι ταῦτα παρέξον ται, στρατιὰς καὶ τὴν δικανικὴν καὶ ἐκμάθησιν τὴν τῶν νόμων· ταῦθ' ἅπερ ἡμᾶς ἀνέσειε μάλιστα λέγων καὶ μάλα τεχνικῶς, τοῦ κυριωτάτου, φησί, τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν, λόγου ἀμελήσαντας.

I cannot recount at present all the addresses of this kind which he delivered to us, with the view of persuading us to take up the pursuit of philosophy. Nor was it only for a single day that he thus dealt with us, but for many days, and, in fact, as often as we were in the habit of going to him at the outset;

Οὐκ ἔχω νῦν ἐγὼ λέγειν, ὅσας τοιαύτας ἐξήχει φωνὰς προτρέπων φιλοσοφεῖν, οὐ μιᾶς ἡμέρας μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ πλειόνων ὅσων αὐτῷ προσῄειμεν τῶν πρώτων, βεβλημένοι μὲν ὥσπερ τινὶ βέλει τῷ παρ' αὐτοῦ λόγῳ καὶ ἐκ πρώτης ἡλικίας

(for he was possessed of a rare combination of a certain sweet grace and persuasiveness, along with a strange power of constraint),

(ἦν γάρ πως καὶ ἡδείᾳ τινὶ χάριτι καὶ πειθοῖ καί τινι ἀνάγκῃ μεμιγμένος),

 and we were pierced by his argumentation as with an arrow from the very first occasion of our hearing him though we still wavered and debated the matter undecidedly with ourselves, holding so far by the pursuit of philosophy,

 στρεφόμενοι δέ πως ἔτι καὶ λογιζόμενοι, καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν μὲν προσκαρτερή σαντες, οὐδέπω πάντη πεπεισμένοι,

without however being brought thoroughly over to it,

 ἀφίστασθαι δὲ πάλιν οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως οὐ δυνάμενοι,

while somehow or other we found ourselves quite unable to withdraw from it conclusively, and thus were always drawn towards him by the power of his reasonings, as by the force of some superior necessity. 

 ἀεὶ δὲ ὥσπερ ὑπότισιν ἀνάγκαις μείζοσι τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἑλκόμενοι.

—a gift which man alone of all the creatures of the earth has been deemed honourable and worthy enough to possess, and one which every man whatsoever, be he wise or be he ignorant, reasonably embraces, who has not utterly lost the power of thought by some mad distraction of mind.

(τοῦτο ὃ δὴ μόνος τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς πάντων ζώων ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἔχειν ἐτιμήθη τε καὶ ἠξιώθη, καὶ εἰκότως πᾶς ὁστισοῦν καὶ σοφὸς καὶ ἀμαθὴς περιέχεται τούτου, ὅστις μὴ παντελῶς τὰς ἐννοίας ἀπολώλεκεν ὑπό τινος φρενοβλαβείας),

 And thus he continued to do with us, until, by pouring in upon us many such argumentations, one after the other, he at last carried us fairly off somehow or other by a kind of divine power, like people with his reasonings, and established us (in the practice of philosophy), and set us down without the power of movement, as it were, beside himself by his arts.

 ἕως πολλοὺς τοιούτους ἄλλους ἐπ' ἄλλοις ἐπαντλῶν λόγους, ὥσπερ τινὰς κατα γεγοητευμένους, ἐπὶ τέλει ταῖς αὐτοῦ τέχναις ἀκινήτους ἀτεχνῶς φέρων ἡμᾶς παριδρύσατο λόγοις τοῖς αὐτοῦ, οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως, σύν τινι θείᾳ δυνάμει.

Moreover, the stimulus of friendship was also brought to bear upon us,—a stimulus, indeed, not easily withstood, but keen and most effective,—the argument of a kind and affectionate disposition, which showed itself benignantly in his words when he spoke to us and associated with us.

Καὶ γὰρ καὶ φιλίας ἡμῖν κέντρον ἐνέσκηψεν, οὐκ εὐκαταγώνιστόν τι, δριμὺ δὲ καὶ ἀνυτικώτατον, δεξιότητος καὶ διαθέσεως τῆς ἀγαθῆς, ὅση εὐνοητική τις ἡμῖν αὐταῖς ταῖς φωναῖς αὐτοῦ προσφθεγγομένου καὶ ὁμιλοῦντος ἐνε φαίνετο·

For he did not aim merely at getting round us by any kind of reasoning; but his desire was, with a benignant, and affectionate, and most benevolent mind, to save us, and make us partakers in the blessings that flow from philosophy, and most especially also in those other gifts which the Deity has bestowed on him above most men, or, as we may perhaps say, above all men of our own time.

οὐκ ἐκπεριεῖναι ἡμᾶς ἄλλως λόγοις πειρωμένου, δεξιᾷ δὲ καὶ φιλανθρώπῳ καὶ χρηστοτάτῃ γνώμῃ σώζειν τε καὶ κοινωνοὺς τῶν τε ἐκ φιλοσοφίας ἀγαθῶν κατα στήσασθαι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων μάλιστα, ὅσα τὸ θεῖον παρὰ τοὺς πολλούς, ἢ καὶ παρὰ πάντας ἴσως τοὺς νῦν ἀνθρώπους,

And being most mightily smitten by this love, I was persuaded to give up all those objects or pursuits which seem to us befitting, and among others even my boasted jurisprudence,—yea, my very fatherland and friends, both those who were present with me then, and those from whom I had parted. And in my estimation there arose but one object dear and worth desire,—to wit, philosophy, and that master of philosophy, this inspired man. “And the soul of Jonathan was knit with David.”

ᾧ μάλιστα τετρωμένος ἁπάντων τῶν δοκούντων ἡμῖν προσήκειν πραγμάτων ἢ μαθημάτων, τῶν τε ἄλλων καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν καλῶν μου νόμων, ἀμελεῖν ἐπειθόμην πατρίδος τε καὶ οἰκείων, τῶν τε παρόντων ἐνταῦθα καὶ οἷς ἀπεδημή σαμεν. Ἓν δέ μοι φίλον ἦν καὶ ἀγαπώμενον, φιλοσοφία τε καὶ ὁ ταύτης καθηγεμὼν οὗτος ὁ θεῖος ἄνθρωπος· καὶ συνεδέθη ἡ ψυχὴ Ἰωνάθαν ∆αυίδ.

This word, indeed, I did not read till afterwards in the sacred Scriptures; but I felt it before that time, not less clearly than it is written: for, in truth, it reached me then by the clearest of all revelations. For it was not simply Jonathan that was knit with David; but those things were knit together which are the ruling powers in man—their souls,—those objects which, even though all the things which are apparent and ostensible in man are severed, cannot by any skill be forced to a severance when they themselves are unwilling.

Τοῦτο ἀνέγνων μὲν ὕστερον ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν, ἔπαθον δὲ πρότερον οὐχ ἧττον ἐναργῶς ἢ εἴρηται, καίτοι γε ἐναργέστατα κε χρησμῳδημένον. Οὐ γὰρ συνεδέθη ἁπλῶς Ἰωνάθαν ∆αυίδ, αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ κυριώτατα, ψυχή, ταῦθ' ἅπερ οὐδὲ χωρισθέντων τῶν φαινομένων καὶ βλεπομένων ἀνθρώπῳ χωρισθῆναι καὶ αὐτὰ μηχανῇ τινι καταναγκασθήσεται· ἄκοντα μὲν οὐδαμῶς.