2 on this ground, therefore, the temperate Joseph is praised in that by reasoning, he subdued, on reflection, the indulgence of sense.
3 For, although young, and ripe for sexual intercourse, he abrogated by reasoning the stimulus of his passions.
4 And it is not merely the stimulus of sensual indulgence, but that of every desire, that reasoning is able to master.
5 For instance, the law says, You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.
6 Now, then, since it is the law which has forbidden us to desire, I shall much the more easily persuade you, that reasoning is able to govern our lusts, just as it does the affections which are impediments to justice.
7 Since in what way is a solitary eater, and a glutton, and a drunkard reclaimed, unless it be clear that reasoning is lord of the passions?
8 A man, therefore, who regulates his course by the law, even if he be a lover of money, straightway puts force upon his own disposition; lending to the needy without interest, and cancelling the debt of the incoming Sabbath.