אליגוריות החוקים, ספר ג כ״חAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis, Book III 28
א׳
1[85] Some even before their birth God endows with a goodly form and equipment, and has determined that they shall have a most excellent portion. Dost thou not see what He says concerning Isaac to Abraham when unable to trust that he shall ever become the father of such an offspring, nay when he actually laughed at the promise and said, “Shall it come to pass to him that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah who is ninety years old bear a child?” (Gen. 17:17). He ratifies and confirms it saying, “Yes, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with Him for an everlasting covenant” (ibid. 19).
ב׳
2[86] What is it, then, that has made this one too to be praised before his birth? Some good things benefit us when they have reached us and are present, as health, excellence of bodily senses, wealth perhaps, fame—for even these may be loosely called “good things”;—some again not only when they have come, but when their coming has been foretold. For instance joy, a happy condition of the soul, gladdens not only when it is present and in active operation, but, when still an object of hope, brings an anticipatory brightness. For here again is a peculiar advantage which it possesses. While other good things take effect in virtue of their own particular goodness only, joy is both a particular and a general good. See how it comes to add to and enrich them all. We rejoice over health, and over liberty, and over honour, and over the other good things, so that we say with literal truth that nothing is good unless joy be attached to it.
ג׳
3[87] But we rejoice over the other good things not only when they have already come about beforehand and are present, but also when they are looked for in the future, as when we hope that we shall grow rich, or shall obtain office, or shall win praise, or shall discover a way of getting rid of disease, or shall obtain our share of health and strength, or shall be no longer ignorant, but men of knowledge, we are glad in no small measure. Seeing then, that joy, not only when present but when hoped for, causes the soul to overflow with gladness, God fitly held Isaac, even before he was begotten, worthy of his great name and therein of a vast endowment: for “Isaac” means laughter of soul and joy and gladness.