על צאצאי קין נ״דOn the Posterity of Cain and his Exile 54
א׳
1[182] It was in abhorrence of pleasure that there uprose the priest and minister of Him Who alone is Beautiful, Phinehas the controller of the inlets and outlets of the body, who takes care that none of them act amiss and break out in insolence, his very name meaning “Mouth-muzzle.” Seizing his spear, that is exploring and inquiring into the nature of all existence, and discovering nothing more august than virtue, he thrust through and destroyed by reason the creature that hates virtue and loves pleasure, and the parts out of which grew those base counterfeits, softness and voluptuousness.
ב׳
2[183] For the Law says that he thrust the woman through, even through the womb (Numb. 25:7 f.). Having therefore on this wise put a stop to the revolt within himself and turned clean away from his own pleasure, having thus shown his zeal for God, the First and Only One, he was honoured and crowned with the two greatest rewards, peace and priesthood; with peace, because he put an end to the intestine war of lusts in the soul; with the priesthood, because in name and in fact it is akin to peace.
ג׳
3[184] For the consecrated intelligence, being His minister and attendant, must needs do all those things in which her Master delighteth: He delights in the maintenance of a well-ordered state under good laws, in the abolishing of wars and factions, not only those which occur between cities, but also of those that arise in the soul; and these are greater and more serious than those, for they outrage reason, a more divine faculty than others within us. Weapons of war can go so far as to inflict bodily and monetary loss, but a healthy soul they can never harm. From this it appears that states would have done rightly if before bringing against one another arms and engines of war,
ד׳
4[185] with the enslavement and complete overthrow of the enemy in view, they had prevailed on their citizens one by one to put an end to the disorder which abounds within himself, and which is so great and unceasing. For, to be honest, this is the original of all wars. If this be abolished, neither will those occur which still break out in imitation of it, but the human race will attain to the experience and enjoyment of profound peace, taught by the law of nature, namely virtue, to honour God and to be occupied with His service, for this is the source of long life and happiness.