על החוקים לפרטיהם, ספר א ד׳On the Special Laws, Book I 4
א׳
1[21] There are some who put gold and silver in the hands of sculptors as though they were competent to fashion gods; and the sculptors taking the crude material and furthermore using mortal form for their model, to crown the absurdity shape gods, as they are supposed to be. And after erecting and establishing temples they have built altars and in their honour hold sacrifices and processions with other religious rites and ceremonies conducted with the most elaborate care, and the vain shew is treated by priests and priestesses with the utmost possible solemnity.
ב׳
2[22] Such idolaters are warned by the Ruler of All in these words: “Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver and gold,” and the lesson conveyed is little less than a direct command, “Neither shall ye make gods the work of your hands from any other material if you are prevented from using the best,” for silver and gold hold first place among the sculptor’s materials.
ג׳
3[23] But apart from the literal prohibition, He seems to me to suggest another thought of great value for the promotion of morality, and to condemn strongly the money-lovers who procure gold and silver coins from every side and treasure their hoard like a divine image in a sanctuary, believing it to be a source of blessing and happiness of every kind.
ד׳
4[24] And further, all the needy who are possessed by that grievous malady, the desire for money, though they have no wealth of their own on which they may bestow worship as its due, pay awe-struck homage to that of their neighbours, and come at early dawn to the houses of those who have abundance of it as though they were the grandest temples, there to make their prayers and beg for blessing from the masters as though they were gods.
ה׳
5[25] To such he says elsewhere “Ye shall not follow idols and ye shall not make molten gods,” thus teaching them in a figure that it is not fitting to assign divine honours to wealth. For it is the nature of the far-famed materials of wealth, gold and silver, to melt, and they are followed by the multitude who think that what “blind” wealth has to give is the sole or the chief source of happiness.
ו׳
6[26] It is these that he calls “idols,” like to shadows and phantoms, with nothing firm or strong to which they can cling. They are borne along like a restless wind, subject to every kind of change and alteration. And of this we have a clear proof. Sometimes they suddenly light on one who has never owned them ere now: then again, when he thinks that they are firmly grasped, they spring away. And indeed when they are present, the apparition is like idols or images seen through mirrors, deceiving and bewitching the sense and seeming to subsist when they have no abiding substance.
ז׳
7[27] And why need we prove that human riches or human vanity, which empty-headed thinking paints in such bright colours, are unstable? For we know that some assert that all other living creatures and plants which are born and perish are in a constant and ceaseless state of flux, though our perception of the effluence is indistinct, because the swiftness of its course always defeats the efforts of the eyesight to observe it with exactness.