Philonis Judaei Opera Omnia (Vol. 7)

186

What is the meaning of: For the sins of the Amorites are not yet fulfilled up to this time? Genesis 15:16

§. 13. Some have said that by this, fate was explicitly introduced by Moses, as if all things must be performed according to such an hour and time destined by periods... original text contains a lacuna here

What is the meaning of: When the sun was at its setting, a flame was made? Genesis 15:17

§. 14. Either the sun itself appeared in the form of a flame at sunset, or another flame appeared toward evening, not a lightning bolt, but fire similar to it distilled from above. The manifest rendering of the answer is this: concerning that which looks to sense-perception, it must be said... original text contains a lacuna here

What is the meaning of: Behold, a smoking furnace and lamps of fire, which passed through the midst of those divisions? Genesis 15:17

§. 15. The literal sense is clear; for he wants the source or root of the divine Word to consume the sacrifices not by the fire given for our use, but by that descending from above from the ether, so that the purity of the essence of heaven may bear witness to the sanctity of the sacrifices. Regarding the mind, all things that are under the moon are made similar to a smoking furnace, on account of the vapor ascending from the earth and water; insofar as there are also sections of nature, as has been shown before, with individual parts of the world divided in two.