Having given us the doctrine of the parts of the soul, of the ruling part and the subject part, and having shown also in each of these what is the masculine and what the feminine element, Moses proceeds to teach us the lesson that follows next. He knows well that without toil and care it is not possible for male offspring to fall to our lot. Thus his next words are “all that openeth the womb of an ass, thou shalt exchange for a sheep” (Exod. 13:13). It is as much as to say exchange all toil for progress. For the ass is the symbol of toil—he is a patient beast—and the sheep of progress, as the very name shows. Come then to the study of the arts, or the trades, or whatever else can be taught and learnt, not with disdain or slackness, but with all care and attention, with your mind braced to endure patiently all manner of drudgery, and at the same time be at pains not to be held in bondage by fruitless toil, but to bring your labour to the most honourable conclusion and win progress and betterment. For toil is to be borne for the sake of progress. But if it should chance that with all your acceptance of labour and its drudgery your nature gains nothing, but refuses the improvement which progress should bring, turn from it and desist. It is a weary task to oppose nature. And therefore it is that he adds “if thou dost not exchange it, thou shalt redeem it” (Exod. 13:13): that is, if you cannot gain progress in exchange for your labour, let the labour go as well, for the word “redeem” suggests such a meaning, namely that you shall free your soul from the care that has no end and accomplishes nothing.
On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 34
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