BY INNUENDO 47men, has as his most implacable enemy Envy (
Envy comes from his brothers' attitude toward him. For whereas in the
Allegory the difficulty between Joseph and his brothers is represented
as the just resistance of upright men against the "arrogance" and
"empty opinion" of a ruler, in complete contrast here it is Joseph the
ruler who is upright, and the brothers opposed to him are filled with
the evil of Envy. Joseph, the politicus, we are now assured to make the
contrast sharp, was flawless in his way of life (XP^M^VOC OLKOLKOK TOIC
yj0£ci).^16
So his dreams are described as having been conceived and told in per
fectly good faith, though his brothers hated him the more for them, and
even Jacob, while much impressed, felt called upon to reprove him for
such thoughts as are repugnant to people with a flair for equality and
the just relations of kinsfolk.^17
But Jacob seemed to attach no blame to Joseph for the dreams. He
sent off the brothers to allow their rancor time to cool, and only sent
Joseph out to them when he thought a safe time had elapsed. That is,
the treatment of the episode for the gentile audience is as different as
possible from the interpretation which Philo made for the Jews them
selves. There Joseph was utterly in the wrong as over against his right
eous brothers: here he is inferior only to Jacob; to his wicked brothers
he is immeasurably superior. In the same spirit Philo goes on to tell
with considerable flourish the story of the wickedness of the brothers in
selling Joseph, and the lamentation of the aged Jacob.
At §28, as is his custom in this treatise, Philo breaks into the direct
- See above, p. 33. Philo uses qpftovoc; almost as an evil spirit. It is essentially |iiad(>£XOG xal
M-iaoxaXoc; (Migr., 183; cf. Abr., 191; Spec, iii, 3), and as such is in contrast with God
(Migr., 183; Abr., 203). He twice quotes Plato, Phaedrus, 2470: <pft6voc; E§(D {teiou XOQOV
laxaxou (Spec, ii, 249; Prob., 13), whereby <pfr6vog is sharply personalized. In connection with
bad rulers the word appears as a synonym of their JtA.eove|ia (Legat., 80), and Macro points
out that only by making each part of an empire free from cpddvog so that there will be open
and ungrudging flow of trade and good will between its various parts, can a great empire exist
at all (Legat., 47 f.). But, as in these passages, every ruler must count on <pft6vog as the normal
attitude OF subjects toward preeminence, although SO long as the ruler's demands are moderate
(jtooaxdxxEiv xd jiexQia) their <pd6voc; will not assert itself (Spec, ii, 91). Still it is a general
rule that the lesser prizes OF life are more desirable than the greater, since the lower avoid xov
i\Mpvon£VOV del xotg IMEQ^XOUOUV <pd6vov (Agr., 121). The man who is overconfident OF a
continuance OF prosperity must watch out for a fall from (3ao*xavia seal qyfrovoc; (Cher., 33).
Philo's own happiness in the desert was ruined by it (Spec, iii, 3). qpfhSvoc; IS an age-old atti
tude OF the Egyptians toward the Jews (Flac, 29). It is something that dwells in men's souls
(Virt., 223; Praem., 87). In the Messianic Age God will give wealth both public and private
qrfrovov XQEixxova (Exs., 168). - Jos., 6. 17. Ibid., 9.