1The fire on the altar, he tells us, will burn continuously and not be extinguished. That, I think, is natural and fitting, for since the gracious gifts of God granted daily and nightly to men are perennial, unfailing and unceasing, the symbol of thankfulness also, the sacred flame, should be kept alight and remain unextinguished for ever.
2Perhaps also he wishes in this way to employ the abiding presence of the same fire by which all the sacrifices are consecrated to unite them, old and new alike, and thus shew that they carry out perfectly the duty of giving thanks, however numberless are the differences in the resources on which they are based, according as the oblations are lavishly abundant or on the other hand scanty.
3This is the literal account: the inner meaning must be observed by the laws of allegory. The true altar of God is the thankful soul of the Sage, compacted of perfect virtues unsevered and undivided, for no part of virtue is useless.
4On this soul-altar the sacred light is ever burning and carefully kept unextinguished, and the light of the mind is wisdom, just as the darkness of the soul is folly. For knowledge is to the reason what the light of our senses is to the eye: as that gives the apprehension of material things, so does knowledge lead to the contemplation of things immaterial and conceptual, and its beam shines for ever, never dimmed nor quenched.