J?3 
nni'?3D nana ItrX niin«). His commentator Moses Ibn IJabib justifies this 
upbraiding of the body by a reference to a passage in b. Berakot 30 (rmOB'D 
*1J?13 IIDn HJItrXI) which he interprets in the same way. In Baljya's nnDlfl 
it is the body that is termed iSm ]V3K ':j? Si ; comp., on the other hand, 
his Duties, V, 5, where, following the Talmud, Nedarim 32b (see above, p. 
454), he applies pDO to the soul; comp. Kohel. rab., 4, 13. 

*^ See Dieterici, Macrocosmos, 14; comp. also Phaedrus, 246 A, where 
the soul is described as a charioteer {}Dp D^iy, "j(), bottom) : nDN31 
D"'ytJ'"in riJJi D''"'pjb in on rr'a sint^ D^iyn i^y loxj. Ibn Hisdai 
is also the source for Immanuel's ^NIK'J Dn ^an ^cm:i 
S2n D^iyn .*' In nvjni "jbon p , /. c, the sentence reads : 
Nnn D^iyb pK'np nrn D^iyn dj."* 

The Arabic Humanists often conceive of the body also 
as a covering, as the outside protection of something more 
precious that is placed within. Thus they frequently com- 
pare the soul in the body to an embryo in the mother's 
womb, the chick in the t^g, the pearl in the shell, or the 



** Comp. Dukes, Beitrage, II, 103, addition to p. 56 (in Steinschneider's 
Hebr. Obersetsungen, 867, n. 117, erroneously "36"), who refers to a 
similar conception in the Hitopadesa. 

*^ The Brethren of Purity attribute the sentence to the Prophet; see 
Dieterici, Anthropologic, 144; Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibliogr., XIII, 13, n. 8. 

«^ pns »iT«a, 218: utrn ]jn pB'Kin idno Nin ntn DSij;n. The words 

pt^NI and 'JC refer to the righteous and the wicked whom the author had 
described in the preceding pages, (iazzali and IJan §addik seem to have 
escaped the notice of Steinschneider, /. c. 

^ The older editions have corruptedly I'O'O nj» for I'On ]nj? . while 
ed. Lemberg, 149, bottom, has ]'0Xf3n 1CN01 J'O'n IIDJ,* which gives no sense 
at all. 

«' So also in ;u«n n^, /. c. 

** In this form the sentence was made use of by Ibn ITabib, /. c. 22 a, 
top, where, however, the word t3J and, perhaps, also a reference to the 
source were omitted in print, rendering the passage unintelligible; see ib., 
26a, 33b (see above, p. 469, note 56) where two other sentences taken from 
Ibn ^isdai are introduced by v'?B'02 D3nn (nO«03) nON 1M1. 



472 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

man in the garment." The comparison of the soul with 
an embryo is not merely the creation of a fertile imagina- 
tion but part of a well defined system. According to these 
authors, when the individual soul is sent down from heaven, 
where she was at one with the universal soul, to join the 
human body, she is made to forget the wisdom that was 
hers in the former abode,^* She must now regain it 

" 'Ihwan, 599: -^J\ 4J>C l:J^\ ^yj\ clJ> il-^Vl .!_• 
jjrj,!*- 4,»_»JLil_J ■?- (ui. The following is a collection of metaphors given 
by the authors under the superscription Jt^^|» ^al)\ i\ ^l— llllU l3 
(on the similitudes of soul and body) ib., 195: J^,^^L 'yJ^V j' il 

;.;U^ ^\ iiV^ A-J-^J viiSll^ ^'^\ llJ^^ JU-^lj 
^_^*l-. ^jJi^W P\^-^* -^-=^^J /"'^ CT^^ sj,^'^^ A-.i-tj 

<_-J_^~-^j *J' }** ir*^" k.l'iojl ^^^^J \>» Jb ioj'' I''''' brevity's 

sake I give only the contrasts: embryo — womb, boy — school, 
inhabitant — habitation, rider — beast, captain — vessel, king — subject, 

artisan — (his) shop, workman — material, master — pupil ; "and in 

proportion as the body grows old and decrepit, the soul grows young and 
vigorous"; comp. Dieterici, Logik, 142, Macrocosmos, 97, Microcosmos, 184, 
Naturanschauung, 83. 

*' That the soul is deprived of her previous knowledge when entering this 
world is taught already in the Talmud, Niddah 306: HoS 'nSoit '1 t^lT 

qiDo t2'3oi] ncixi icKi Sj? iS pi'?T *iii ... Scipor Dpjc'? ia« 'yD2 T^m^ ^h^r\ 
□Sii'n imnS ksc JV31 ... nSa minn Sa imn inaSoi ... ibid nyi oSiyn 

...nSa niinn S3 inStrOl ve Sj? nmOl K2 InSd. The anonymous author of 
the Kitab ma'&ni al-nafs, who wrote under the influence of the Brethren of 
Purity, refers very often to this passage in support of this (Platonic) theory; 
comp. Goldziher's notes on pp. 28, 56, 62 of that work, where numerous 



PERSONIFICATIONS OF SOUL AND BODY — MALTER 473 

through her own efforts in her earthly career. At the 
outset of her career on earth she, therefore, resembles the 
embryo awaiting development and perfection. The em- 
bryonic soul, in virtue of her divine origin, naturally seeks 
to repossess herself of the lost treasures of wisdom and 
grandeur, which she can accomplish only through con- 
stant application to study and search after truth (avauvTiat^) , 
Here, however, she meets with the stubborn resistance of 
her earthly companion. In his low passions and desires 
he tries to divert her from the right path and to drag her 
into the mire of worldly pleasures. If she is strong enough 
to withstand the temptations and subdues the enemy, mak- 
ing him subservient to her higher aims, she fulfills her 
mission on earth, and on the day of death, departing from 
the body, she returns to her celestial home, where, in re- 
ward of her long struggles and sufferings, she is admitted 
to the galaxy of angels that surround the throne of God. 
The death of the body is, therefore, the birth of the soul,** 
the final act in the evolution from embryo to full maturity. 
If, on the other hand, the soul yields to the seductions of 
the body, neglects her higher duties, and indulges in sensual 
desires, she has failed in the purpose for which she was 
sent. On departing from the body she is denied admittance 



parallels from Arabic sources are given, to which the Pseudo-Theology of 
Aristotle, edited by Dieterici, Leipzig 1882, p. 95 f., may be added; see also 
the work 'jsn np2K, part III, c. 2, ed. Warsaw 1876, p. 42; Jellinek, Bet 
ha-Midrash, I, 154. 

*° 6azzali who did not care much for the Brethren of Purity and once 
stigmatized them as the lowest class of philosophic popularizers (comp. 
Goldziher, REJ., XL,IX, 160), labors under the same conceptions. In his 
Ethics, 219, he clearly says: r»3t? mS Kin mori; comp. the long parable in 
Palquera's CpaQ 45, and Steinschneider, Hebr. tJbersetsungen, 40, n. 281. 



474 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

to the heavenly spheres and doomed to eternal wanderings 
between heaven and earth.'" 

These ideas are not original with the Brethren of 
Purity. They are of common occurrence in Neo-Platonic 
literature. Various Jewish writers, some even older than 
the authors of the Encyclopaedia, move along the same 
lines. What is of special interest to us here is that even 
the similes themselves, peculiar as they are, were made 
use of by Jewish writers. Thus in Bahya's Duties, III 
9, we read : nnsxn p nvun nS'Spai n^in p n-'^K's Iod Dni 
which is literally the same as quoted above from the works 
of the 'Ihwan." For the contrast of schoolboy and school 
I do not know of any direct parallel in Jewish literature." 
The underlying idea, however, namely that the soul was 



'" The thought is also familiar in the Talmud; comp. Shabbat iS2b: S'JH 

D'yci hvi ... main kD3 nnn nmij o'pn:? Str inotr: idis itj?'Sx h 
oSiyn qiDs *ioij? "inK -[nSdi □Sij.'n eiiD2 noiy nns ■i«'?oi) nnSim moon 

(ntS nt inOCi ]^V^pm; comp. also Sifre, HWi, 4°. DHiB, 139; Kohel. rab., 
3, 21; Saadia, Einunot, ed. Cracow, 137 (whose version of the passage agrees 
more with Abot dirabbi Nathan, c. 12), and especially Goldziher, Kitab, 53 f.. 
notes on pp. 65, 66, who quotes also Isaac Israeli (end of ninth century) 
and passages from the Zohar. See also Schdrr, |'lSnn, VIII, 19. The last 
pages of Ibn ?addik's ]t2p dSiJ? are devoted to the presentation of this theory; 
see Horovitz, Psychologic, 198 ff. It should be noticed that in "iSon 'D 
Ttim, c. 35, the same views are expounded by the Dervish to the docile Prince. 

jedaiah, dSij? d^'hs , c. 14 (cnn Dno nniSj,*3 ncK D'Sano n'n'ncD 

mS'T nVfinriS) may also be referred to; comp. Ibn yabib, ad locum. The 
whole matter is closely connected with the theory of the pre-mundane exist- 
ence of the soul; comp. Ginzberg, Die Haggada bet den Kirchenv'dtern, Berlin 
1900, p. 23, 36; Goldziher, /. c, 49. 

" See the Arabic text just quoted; Dieterici, Anihropologgie, 17, 44, 
126. 

'^ For the metaphor man and garment see above, p. 463, note 26, the 
quotation from Palquera's tTpSO and p. 465, note 35, the quotation from 
nT1« mon (Aquinas). 



PERSONIFICATIONS OF SOUIv AND BODY — MALTER 475 

sent down to this world for study and introspection, so 
as to merit by her own efforts the reward that is intended 
for her in the world to come, is taught also by Jewish 
philosophers." 

Of a more general character is the conception of the 
body as a cloud obstructing the light of the sun (soul)" and 
can be met with in various forms also in the works of 
Jewish authors." Special emphasis was laid on the personi- 
fication of the soul as a dove which is ensnared in the 
mazes of the body.'* A similar idea is expressed by the 
author of the commentary on Canticles, in Steinschneider's 
festschrift, texts, p. 50, 1. 6 from below : lins'^n nnK' xni^noi 
^JQDN 'bx Kn3"iNJ 3N"iii^Ki xnnnn nxiji xnpis diinis pn fioDiriD 
rna nn mini "bys* "^x Diisnbxi. "The soul is compar- 
able to a dove which is placed between a peacock that is 
above her and a raven that is under her, the latter pulling 
her repeatedly downward and the former upward."" 

In conclusion it must be stated that while in nearly 
all the instances discussed above the Jewish authors appear 
to have followed Arabic models, there is a considerable 
number of metaphors scattered in haggadic and midrashic" 

'* The authors are too numerous to be quoted. Saadia expounds this 
idea in the fourth chapter of his Emitnot; comp. Horovitz, Psychologie, 45 f., 
particularly Goldziher, Kitab, 47 f. 

'* Dieterici, Anthropologie, 131 f. 

" Comp. Baljya, Duties, VIII, 3, 14th Meditation: njcn JO TIN f'pH 

'1D1 riXtn, which is entirely in the style of the 'Iffwan; the commentary on 
Canticles, /. c, 50, 1. 8, from bottom, 56, 1. 14 ff. ; Pseudo-Empedocles in 
Kaufmann's Studien liber Salomon Ibn Gabirol, 22, top: mil? XTItf CSan 103 

'" Discussed by Goldziher, Kitab, 49 f. ; Der Islam, I, 25. The simile 
quoted above, p. 464, note 30, is conceived under another aspect and does not 
belong here. 

" Comp. fCohel, rab. 2, 14, § 2. 

" See Levit. rab., 4, § 8. 



476 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW 

literature, which seem to have originated with the Jews. 
A collection of these similes, however, was not within the 
scope of the present article. Only a few that bear some 
semblance to similes treated already may be pointed out in 
passing. Thus in Levit. rah., 34, § 3, it is reported of Hillel 
that when he left his disciples he used to say that he is 
going to attend to his guest in the house. On being asked 
whether he is troubled with guests every day he answered. 
Is not that poor soul a guest in the body? to-day she is 
here, to-morrow she may be gone." 

Mediaeval authors often allude to the soul as a bird kept 

prisoner in a cage or flying about seeking rest. A. similar 

conception is found already in Sanh. 92a, Lcvit, rah., 4, § 5 • 

T'lXi nmis minn iidv ."' The KabbaHsts designate the 

" inoS xon x'n jn xov keu ij2 h'h s':d3s inS KnaiSjr see: ]nm 

Xrn X'n n'S. This passage bears strong resemblance to the popular 

sentence "I2p2 inOI JN3 DTH, which occurs in injni "[SoH p , c. l6, 
and, curiously enough, also in a later Midrash; see Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrasch, 

I, 23, and Buber, KmJKT '"lED, 82. 

*» Possibly it is this conception of the soul as a bird that underlies 
Ezekiel 13, 18-21; see Dudley (as above, note 4), p. 29, n. 25, and especially 
Steinschneider, Rangstreit-Literatur, 58, n. i, who considers this conception 
as the basis for the custom to open a window at the moment of a person's 
death, so that the soul may fly out. Prof. Ginzberg refers me to the Midrash 
on Psalms, ed. Buber, p. 102: nStrSci D'BiS SyS 3Jn ^03 HOn HOCJ 

oSiya riD'jjiB'Oi inotr: nxxv jc mxtrai mntrn mna nnSni iS;n2 micp 

nxn mXC mOlSnn )n ]m (comp. also Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrasch. 
V, 45, and p. XXI, top). Here the soul appears as a kind of 
flying locust, or a grasshopper, a figure which may be of Greek 
origin; see e. g. Plato's Phaedrus, 248 E; Pseudo-Theology of Aristotle, 
10, Dieterici's German translation, 198. The Greek rjivxy means also 
butterfly, which, because of its rising from the larva, may have been 
taken as a symbol of life and immortality. The Kabbalist Eleazar of Worms 
(thirteenth century) in his work irEJn nosn , which was published anony- 
mously (Lemberg 1876), refers to this Midrash by 3inD ^nXVO ; see ib., 
id (C'BiD nS B"! mOC? 'n nS V< trean) and 6b. The work, to which 
Prof. Schcchter called my attention, is a fantastic glorification of the soul, 
interspersed with kabbalistic mysteries which yield but little for our purpose; 
comp. Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibliogr., XVII, 53; Briil