אליגוריות החוקים, ספר א כ״זAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis, Book I 27
א׳
1[85] It is worth inquiring why, while the two rivers Pheison and Geon encompass countries, the one Evilat, the other Ethiopia, neither of the others does so; but of the Tigris it is said that it is over against the Assyrians, and the Euphrates is not said to be over against anything; and yet as a matter of fact the Euphrates both flows round many countries and has many facing it. But the subject of the passage is not the river, but amendment of character.
ב׳
2[86] We must observe, then, that prudence and courage are able to construct an enclosing wall against the opposite vices, folly and cowardice, and capture them; for they are both of them weak and easy to take, for the foolish man falls an easy victim to the prudent man, and the coward lies at the mercy of the brave man; self-mastery on the contrary is powerless to encircle desire and pleasure; for they are hard to wrestle with and difficult to overthrow. Mark you not that even the most self-controlled of men under compulsion of the mortal element in them resort to food and drink, out of which the pleasures of the appetite develop? So we must be content to face and fight lust as a principle.
ג׳
3[87] That is why the river Tigris is over against the Assyrians, self-mastery over against pleasure. Justice, however, the characteristic of the river Euphrates, neither besieges and encircles anyone with a palisade, nor withstands any in conflict. Why? Because it is the function of justice to assign to each what he deserves, and justice sustains the part neither of prosecutor nor of defendant but of judge. Even as the judge, therefore, makes it his business neither to conquer any persons, nor to wage war on any and oppose them, but pronounces a judgement and awards what is just, so too justice, being nobody’s opponent, accords to each matter what it merits.