Philo of Alexandria

Type:

Book Chapter

Author:

Sami Yli-Karjanmaa

Published:

2017

The Jewish exegete Philo of Alexandria's (c.20 BCE to c. 50 CE) debt to Plato is enormous.* Philo's central project, the allegorical interpretation of the five books of Moses in the Septuagint, would be inconceivable without the contribution of the Athenian philosopher, and Greek culture in general. 1 Philo's relation to his two-fold heritage has given rise to debates for centuries.Before we look at the different ways Philo utilizes Plato in his project, it is warranted to briefly outline his enterprise.Most of his ca.40 surviving works, written in Attic-influenced Greek, deal with interpreting the Pentateuch and belong to one of three different commentary series. 2 (1) In the Quaestiones (sc. in Genesim and in Exodum) Philo goes through the biblical text verse by verse presenting questions about the meaning, and answering both on the basis of the literal and then concerning the allegorical interpretation.The Quaestiones is probably the series he wrote first. 3 (2) Almost half of Philo's works belong to what is called the Allegorical Commentary (on Genesis).The literal meaning is here mostly just the starting point for allegories of often considerable complexity the main subject of which is the human soul.There are signs (e.g., references to initiates) that this series was intended for a select audience only. 4 (3) The third series, the Exposition of the Law, is the most exoteric one, and it covers parts of all the five books of Moses focusing, in particular, on the creati…

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