על החוקים לפרטיהם, ספר ג י״חOn the Special Laws, Book III 18
א׳
1[100] Now the true magic, the scientific vision by which the facts of nature are presented in a clearer light, is felt to be a fit object for reverence and ambition and is carefully studied not only by ordinary persons but by kings and the greatest kings, and particularly those of the Persians, so much so that it is said that no one in that country is promoted to the throne unless he has first been admitted into the caste of the Magi.
ב׳
2[101] But there is a counterfeit of this, most properly called a perversion of art, pursued by charlatan mendicants and parasites and the basest of the women and slave population, who make it their profession to deal in purifications and disenchantments and promise with some sort of charms and incantations to turn men’s love into deadly enmity and their hatred into profound affection. The simplest and most innocent natures are deceived by the bait till at last the worst misfortunes come upon them and thereby the wide membership which unites great companies of friends and kinsmen falls gradually into decay and is rapidly and silently destroyed.
ג׳
3[102] All these things our lawgiver had in view, I believe, when he prohibited any postponement in bringing poisoners to justice and ordained that the punishment should be exacted at once. For postponement encourages the culprits to use the little time they have to live as an opportunity for repeating their crimes, while it fills those who already have misgivings as to their safety with a still more horrifying fear, as they think that the survival of the poisoners means death to themselves.
ד׳
4[103] So just as the mere sight of vipers and scorpions and all venomous creatures even before they sting or wound or attack us at all leads us to kill them without delay as a precaution against injury necessitated by their inherited viciousness, in the same way it is right to punish human beings who though they have received a nature mellowed through the possession of a rational soul, whence springs the sense of fellowship, have been so changed by their habits of life that they shew the savageness of ferocious wild beasts and find their only source of pleasure and profit in injuring all whom they can.