Philo
“dwelling there” suggests the contrast (illustrated from sayings of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses) of the good man regarding himself as only a sojourner in the body (76–82).
We now come to the building of the city and tower. The third verse is “come let us make bricks and bake them with fire.” By “brick-making” is meant the analysing and shaping of evil-minded thoughts (83–90), and we are reminded that such brick-making is also imposed upon the Israel-soul, when once it is in bondage to Egypt (91–93). This last thought gives rise to a very loosely connected meditation on the vision of the Divine granted to the liberated Israel in Ex. xxiv.a and the interpretation of its details (94–100). The “baking with fire” signifies the solidarity which sophistical argument gives to their vices, and so too we have “their brick became a stone” (101–102). But on the other hand the “asphalt became clay,b” that is, God subverts their evil designs, before they attain the safety (ἀσφάλεια) of “asphalt” (103–104). Two thoughts on “asphalt” follow suggesting that its “safety” is rather the safety of bodily than of spiritual things (105–106).
“Let us build ourselves a city and tower whose head shall reach to heaven.” Our souls are cities and the fool summons all his senses and passions to help him build his city with its tower or acropolis to his taste (107–112). When the tower seeks to rise to heaven, it signifies the impious attempt of theological falsities (especially the denial of providence) to attack celestial truths (113–115). On the next words “let us make our name” Philo bursts into
Philo
invective against the madness of the wicked in actually flaunting their wickedness (116–118). It is true indeed that they have an inkling that there is a divine judgement awaiting them as they shew by the next words “before we are scattered abroad” (119–121). But this is only in the background of their thoughts. In general they are of Cain’s lineage and believe in the self-sufficiency of man, the folly of which Philo denounces in his usual way, and this self-sufficiency gives a second meaning to the words its head shall reach to heaven” (122–128). But this tower will be overthrown even as Gideon overthrew the tower of Penuel (turning away from God), not in war but when he returned in peace—the true peace (129–132). By a third interpretation “heaven” may mean “mind,” and the attempt to reach it be the attempt to exalt sense above mind (133).
The words “the Lord came down to see the city and the tower” call for the usual protest against anthropomorphism, and Philo again emphasizes the truth that God’s Potencies are everywhere, while His essential nature is not in space at all (134–139). The intention of Moses in using the phrase is to shew us by God’s example the need of close examination before we dogmatize, and the superiority of sight to hearsay (140–141). As for the phrase the “sons of men,” some may scoff at it as a pleonasm, but the true meaning is that these builders are not, like the pious, “sons of God” (141–145), nor yet sons of “one man,”a that is the Logos (146–147). Son-ship in fact is often in the scriptures used in this spiritual sense (148–149). The next words, “behold they are all one race and one lip,” give rise to the