26 PHILO'S POLITICS
have not been carried away by a wild beast but have been translated to
heaven like Elijah in a rush of unquenchable and immortal light. They
were forbidden by law to fulfill their religious duties as they should, so
they were taken to heaven to become whole burnt offerings as they
themselves were dissolved in the ethereal beams.^23 Here another impor
tant aspect of contemporary Judaism, what amounted almost to the
deification of the political martyrs, and the notion that they became
sacrifices to God for Israel, seems clearly present also in Alexandria.^24
The picture leads Philo to a brief digression on the insecurity of mate
rial things and the safety of retreat in contemplation. But he soon re
turns to his subject, and goes back to interpreting the sheaves of Joseph's
dream. The point of the dream is that Joseph's sheaf arose and stood
upright, while the sheaves of the others turned toward his sheaf and
made obeisance to it.^25 So does a man who is filled with "empty opin
ion" put himself above all things, above cities, laws, and ancestral cus
toms (Jewish Law), and the affairs of each of these. From leadership of
the people (oTjiiayuYia) they go on to become "officials of the people"
(Syjpapxia);^26 they overturn the affairs of their neighbours to establish
their own, and in every way put under the yoke all minds, even those
which are free and unslavish.^27 Why then did the sheaves of the virtu
ous brothers bow to the sheaf of such a person? Because they could not
for the moment help themselves. When a ruthless man gets into the
ascendancy, one who is modest and pious is helpless, and a man who is
cautious bows his neck. The right minded man knows that as chance
blows up such eruptions, it also in time wilts them, and he is willing to
submit to the temporarily inevitable and wait. It is at this point that
Philo goes on to give the advice against resistance and frankness, and
for subtle propitiation of savage rulers, quoted above.
But though the sheaves bowed, when Joseph's "arrogance" reached a
certain height his brothers had to protest at whatever risk. For the
brethren said, "Shall you be a king and rule over us?" The word
- Som., ii, 67.
24. Philo may well have had in mind, as he wrote, the dying prayer of Eleazor according to
IV Mac. vi, 28 f.: itacoc; yzvov xcj> eftvei GOV, dgxeaftelc; xfj fuxexega jtepl avxdW SIXR.
xafrdoaiov auxcov jtoiriaov xo djiov atfxa, xal dvxiilnjxov avxcov XdfJe xryv i^v tyv%r\v. Cf.
ibid., 17, 21 f. - Som., ii, 78.
- ATin-aoxu* means the office of the SrJM'aQXog; it is no accident that firjuapxog was the
regular Greek word for tribunus plebis. The Roman tribune had of course no administration in
Alexandria, but the word gives color to the passage. - Ibid., 79.