We have had to wander to some extent into a domain outside our province in order to appreciate fully Manasseh’s general ideas. His Jewish nationalism, which is for us the principal point, can be understood only in connection with his whole system of ideas. This nationalism is outspoken in the _Nishmath Chayyim_. What we, in modern language, call race, national (from _natus_――_natio_) individuality, _i.e._ what the Jew is by himself, by the fact of being born a Jew, is termed by Manasseh “the Jewish soul.” His system is rooted in his faith in the excellency of the Jewish soul, which is a profound act of homage to the race; that is the point of view from which he regards Jewish history. History, he thinks――and in this point again he is guided by the evidence of historical facts――bears witness to the beneficial influence that the soul of _Israel_, or――more precisely ――the _Israelitish_ soul, has exerted on the intellectual life of mankind. On this point he is even carried away by his imagination to make exaggerated statements of the following kind, again backed up by authorities: “It is a truth confirmed by innumerable writers, that all the learning of the Greeks and Egyptians was derived from the Jews: Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria (150?‒213?) and Theodoret (386?‒247) assert that all the best philosophers and poets owe their learning to the Holy Scriptures, for which reason they call Plato the ‘Attic _Moses_’; the ‘Athenian _Moses_.’ Clearchus the Peripatetic (320 _b.c.e._) writes that Aristotle gained most of his learning from a Jew with whom he had much conversation; Ambrose (340?‒397) writes that Pythagoras (_fl._ 540‒510 _b.c.e._) was by origin a Jew, and like a pilferer robbed them of many things; Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor (80 _b.c.e._) writes that he was a disciple of the prophet Ezekiel (_fl._ 3332 _a.m._). Lastly, it is certain that Orpheus (_14th_ or _13th cent. b.c.e._), Plato, Anaxagoras (500‒428 _b.c.e._) Pythagoras, the Milesian Thales (640‒546 _b.c.e._), Homer (_fl._ 962‒927 _b.c.e._) and many other very learned men, derived their knowledge from the wide ocean of the knowledge of _Moses_ (2368‒2488 _a.m._) and the Sages and professors of his most Holy Law; for, according to the Psalmist, “He declareth His word unto Jacob, ...” (Psalm cxlvii. 19). “He hath not dealt so with any nation; ...” (_Ibid._ 20).