על צאצאי קין כ״חOn the Posterity of Cain and his Exile 28
א׳
1[96] Now a thing is proved holy by three lines of evidence—ordinary number, discipline, perfect number. Wherefore it is said “everything that cometh in the count under the rod, the tenth is holy.” For that which is not deemed worthy of counting is profane, not holy, but that which is counted, being included in the reckoning, is ipso facto approved. For instance, the Law says that the corn collected by Joseph in Egypt could not be counted, and adds “for there was not count” (Gen. 41:49), since the food that sustains the body and the Egyptian passions is absolutely unworthy to be counted.
ב׳
2[97] The rod is a symbol of discipline, for there is no way of taking to heart warning and correction, unless for some offences one is chastised and brought to a sense of shame. 10 is the token and pledge of a perfecting by the way of gradual progress. Of that perfecting it is meet and right to offer the first-fruits to Him who marshalled, brought up and disciplined us, and crowned our hopes with fulfilment.