על שהרע נוהג לארוב לטוב י״בThat the Worse is wont to Attack the Better 12
א׳
1[38] Do you not see that Moses fights shy of the sophists in “Egypt,” that is, in the body? He calls them “magicians,” because good morals are spoiled by the tricks and deceptions of sophistry acting on them like the enchantments of magic. Moses’ plea is that he is not “eloquent” (Exod. 4:10), which is equivalent to saying that he has no gift for the oratory which is but specious guesswork at what seems probable. Afterwards he follows this up by emphatically stating that he is not merely not eloquent but absolutely “speechless” (Exod. 6:12). He calls himself speechless,” not in the sense in which we use the word of animals without reason, but of him who fails to find a fitting instrument in the language uttered by the organs of speech, and prints and impresses on his understanding the lessons of true wisdom, the direct opposite of false sophistry.
ב׳
2[39] And he will not go to Egypt nor engage in conflict with its sophists, until he has been fully trained in the word of utterance, God having shown and perfected all the qualities which are essential to expression of thought by the election of Aaron who is Moses’ brother, and of whom he is wont to speak as his “mouth” and “spokesman” and “prophet” (Exod. 4:16; 7:1);
ג׳
3[40] for all these titles belong to Speech or Word, which is brother of Mind. For mind is the fountain of words and speech is its outlet. For all the thoughts of the heart, like streams from a spring, well up and flow forth into the open through speech; and Speech is the expounder of the plans which Understanding has formed in its own council-chamber. Speech, moreover, is the spokesman and prophet of the oracles which the understanding never ceases to utter from depths unseen and unapproachable.