Philonis Judaei Paralipomena Armena

labor of care. As if to prune it, to tend it around, to soften, to dig, to cut a ditch, to irrigate with water. And the guardianship: for although there was no other man, yet at least for the sake of the beasts. And there is much concerning the air and water, so that when there is a heatwave, he may water it with abundant water; and when there is too much moisture, by digging, he may divert the flow through the excess.

Why, when he commands to eat from every tree that is in the garden, does he speak in the singular, "Eat"? But when he forbids (eating) from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he speaks in the plural, "You shall not eat," for on the day you eat, you shall die?

XV. First, because one made from many is good, not a small thing, and this for these reasons: because the one who made the utility is one, and the one who is benefited is likewise one. I do not say "one" in that which precedes duality by number, but the unifying power, according to which many are fitted and belong, and by uniting resemble one: as a herd, an armentum cattle/herd, a flock, a chorus, an army, a nation, a tribe, a lineage, and a city. For all these are one by the hands of many, embracing a community and love. But the unmixed and those that have no commonality fall and are surrendered to duality and the multitude.

1 Circumfodere: I translate as "to dig around," where the Glossary replaces it with "to clean the roots," "to prune the dry parts." (But it would be better to say "scabiem" mange/scab). Truly, the same word occurs elsewhere in Philo with the same meaning of digging around... 2 See similar things in S. Ambrose, On Paradise, ch. v. 3 Code C reads: "you eat, you are to die"; the editions read "you are about to die." But I will rarely note these light differences. 4 Aliter: "One is the good. That is: First, I say this sense, that although he does many good things for many, yet by one name he is called good... Or one. That is: I say another sense. That one is he who is led by wisdom with clear and pure virtue, and without mixture of evil."