Philo of Alexandria Blog

This week I launched a new blog; the new one is more concerned with New Testament studies, and studies in 1 Peter in particular.
As you may have discovered from the sidebar here, I have published a volume on 1 Peter and Philo; I will continue to work with both 1 Peter, and with the works of Philo, but probably more as two separate fields. My present position at a School of Theology & Mission naturally directs my attention more to the New Testament; but Philo is and will still be there, and I will continue this blog and the related Resource page..

The Blog is to be found here: Research Notes on 1 Peter.

This caught my attention as it states something I had never thought of before:

"Outskirts Press, Inc. has published Voice of the Messiah: My Best Seller by Raygene Kuykendall, which is the author’s most recent book to date. The 5.5 x 8.5 Paperback in the Christianity - Theology - Anthropology category is available worldwide on book retailer websites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble for a suggested retail price of $16.95. Voice of the Messiah is also available in its 5.5 x 8.5 Hardback w/ Jacket edition for $24.95. The webpage at www.outskirtspress.com/voiceofthemessiah was launched simultaneously with the book’s publication."

Further down in the presentation of the book it is said:

"After two years of intense research, and many book reviews later, Raygene was inspired to write a “visionary” story of Jesus and his family, set in the “recorded” era of Augustus Caesar and the Roman Empire It is a story that depicts Hebrew life and family relationships at home in Nazareth as well as Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The story Includes the wedding of Mary, at thirteen years of age, to Joseph, who was nearing fifty, and eventually, Jesus’ 17 years of continuing education in the Essene community at Qumran under the tutorship of Philo of Alexandria. “Voice of the Messiah” is a compendium of the life of Jesus, from the time of the “immaculate” conception, until the beginning of his ministry. It is a story filled with intrigue, mystery, guile, murder, adultery, love, hate, and power. It is also an account of life, faith, and traditions that will leave you pleasantly filled with new views of Christianity, Judaism, Essenes, and the many other religions practiced during the life of Jesus of Nazareth."

Yeah, I have no doubts that thus book is really filled with "intrigue, mystery" etc etc. Such things sell!

But how come I never came upon the idea that Philo of Alexandria was the essene tutor of Jesus of Nazareth? This discovery would be great news at the upcoming Philo seminar at the SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego this fall...

Or,- well, I really don't think so.........

Last year Brill published a 954 pages large volume of Louis H. Feldman's studies. I see I have not mentioned it before on this blog (for reasons I can't understand...), but here it comes:Louis H. Feldman, Judaism and Hellenism Reconsidered (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 107; Leiden, Brill 2006). 954 pp. € 207.00 / US$ 279.00
"This book is a collection of 26 previously published articles, with a number of additions and corrections, and with a long new introduction on "The Influence of Hellenism on Jews in Palestine in the Hellenistic Period." The articles deal with such subjects as "Homer and the Near East," "The Septuagint," "Hatred and Attraction to the Jews in Classical Antiquity," "Conversion to Judaism in Classical Antiquity," "Philo, Pseudo-Philo, Josephus, and Theodotus on the Rape of Dinah," "The Influence of the Greek Tragedians on Josephus," "Josephus' Biblical Paraphrase as a Commentary on Contemporary Issues," "Parallel Lives of Two Lawgivers: Josephus' Moses and Plutarch's Lycurgus," "Rabbinic Insights on the Decline and Forthcoming Fall of the Roman Empire."

The Brill homepage also has a Table of Contents available on their site, listing the 26 studies included in this volume.

I congratulate Feldman on the publication of these studies, hoping that it may help many other readers getting access to his many erudite articles and studies.
However, the price is disturbing; US$ 279.00 is too much for most young research fellows or scholars. My wife would be mad for days, if I spent so much on a single volume....
I always keep wondering, when seeing such prices; how is it possible to make books becoming so expensive in the age of computer technology?

How could I miss this book? I suddenly discovered that L.H. Feldman is publishing a large study on Philo's portrayal of Moses. However, as far as I can gather, the book is not yet published. Hopefully it might be available in November at the SBL, I might hope: Louis H. Feldman,
Philo's Portrayal of Moses in the Context of Ancient Judaism
The University of Notre Dame Press, Cloth Edition, 568 Pages, 2007.
We might again quote from the publishers:
"Philo's Portrayal of Moses in the Context of Ancient Judaism presents the most comprehensive study of Philo's De Vita Mosis that exists in any language. Feldman, well known for his work on Josephus and ancient Judaism, here paves new ground using rabbinic material with philological precision to illuminate important parallels and differences between Philo's writing on Moses and rabbinic literature."

Louis H. Feldman is the Abraham Wouk Family Professor of Classics and Literature, Yeshiva University. He is the author and editor of over sixteen books, including Josephus's Interpretation of the Bible and most recently Judaism and Hellenism Reconsidered.

“This book represents the first full-length treatment of Philo's portrait of Moses in the De Vita Moysis. The work is erudite and careful. As is characteristic of Professor Feldman's work as a whole, the strongest quality of this book is its comprehensive nature and encyclopedic learning. It will appeal to a significant number of scholars and students from a wide range of disciplines, including Second Temple Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism, New Testament, and the Early Church.” —Gregory E. Sterling, associate professor of theology, University of Notre Dame.

Read more about the book here.

Every one who have read more than just a little in Philo, will probably have discovered his many sayings and invectives against the 'Egyptians'. Now there is a study to be published about Philo's view of the 'Egyptians':Sarah J.K. Pearce,
The Land of the Body. Studies in Philo's Representation of Egypt
(Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 208)
Mohr Siebeck,2007. XXVIII, 365 pages. ISBN 978-3-16-149250-1 cloth € 109.00
The publisher's description of the book runs thus:
"This book presents the first extended study of the representation of Egypt in the writings of Philo of Alexandria. Philo is a crucial witness, not only to the experiences of the Jews of Alexandria, but to the world of early Roman Egypt in general. As historians of Roman Alexandria and Egypt are well aware, we have access to very few voices from inside the country in this era; Philo is the best we have. As a commentator on Jewish Scripture, Philo is also one of the most valuable sources for the interpretation of Egypt in the Pentateuch. He not only writes very extensively on this subject, but he does so in ways that are remarkable for their originality when compared with the surviving literature of ancient Judaism. In this book, Sarah Pearce tries to understand Philo in relation to the wider context in which he lived and worked. Key areas for investigation include: defining the 'Egyptian' in Philo's world; Philo's treatment of the Egypt of the Pentateuch as a symbol of 'the land of the body'; Philo's emphasis on Egyptian inhospitableness; and his treatment of Egyptian religion, focusing on Nile veneration and animal worship."

The Eisenbrauns publishers bookstore also provide a Table of Contents of the book:


Sarah J.K. Pearce, born 1965; 1988 Bachelor of Divinity (University of London); 1995 DPhil (Oriental Studies, University of Oxford); Ian Karten Senior Lecturer in Jewish History, The Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton.

This is a welcome addition to those studies who focus on how Philo conceptualized aspects and issues of his social worldpast and present. I hope to get hold of the book (hey, publisher, are you listening..... :-)

Using some simple search procedures, I was able to detect the following sessions including one or more lectures on Philo at the upcoming SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego. If you know of some papers I have missed, please use the comments field (kommentarer) below.

Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti
11/18/2007. 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Edward A - GH

Theme: Literary and Historical Contexts of Early Christian Anthropology

Matthew Goff, Florida State University
"Spiritual" and "Fleshly" Types of Humankind in 4QInstruction, Philo and Paul (20 min) Discussion (10 min)

Abstract: 4QInstruction is a sapiential text in Hebrew that was written during the second century BCE and published in 1999. The emergence of this composition provides a new perspective for comparing Diaspora Jewish texts, and Hellenistic literature in general, to the Hebrew wisdom literature of the late Second Temple period. My paper will examine the anthropology of 4QInstruction and compare it to that of Philo's On the Creation of the World and 1 Corinthians. All three texts make a distinction between "fleshly" and "spiritual" kinds of people. Moreover, these three compositions ground their understanding of humankind in an interpretation of Gen 1-3. These and other works include variants of an early Jewish exegetical tradition attested in both Palestine and the wider Hellenistic world.

Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität
A Case of Psychological Dualism: Philo's Interpretation of the Instruction of the Two Spirits in QEx I 23 (20 min)
Discussion (10 min)

Abstract: The Instruction of the Two Spirits (1QS III,13-IV,26) is one of the best-known dualistic texts from Qumran, combining cosmic, ethical and psychological dualism. However, A. Lange and others have shown that it did not originate in the Qumran community, but represents a tradition taken up from outside. In his Quaestiones, Philo presents a wide variety of traditions, not all of which he agrees with. In QEx I 23, he takes up the tradition of the two spirits and interprets it in an emphatically psychological way. This paper argues that Philo is acquainted with the Instruction of the Two Spirits, but takes it up in a way that emphasizes the already existing psychological dualism and allows him to tone down the cosmic aspects which do not fit into his own view.

S18-18 Hellenistic Judaism
11/18/2007. 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Edward D - GH

Theme: Philosophy and Wisdom in Hellenistic Judaism

4^th and 5^th lecture:

Erin Roberts, Brown University
Philo, Wealth, and Stoic Ethics (20 min)

Abstract: The question of whether Philo of Alexandria expresses a consistent ethical view of wealth has been a matter of dispute. Arguments against a consistent view proceed either by drawing attention to the discrepancy between Philo's own personal wealth and passages from his writings that portray wealth as something which should be avoided, or by highlighting the contradictory ways that Philo depicts wealth in his writings (sometimes disparaging it, other times praising it). Arguments for a consistent view maintain that what really matters to Philo is the will of the possessor of wealth or the measure of one's desire for riches; by turning the focus inward, these arguments ameliorate the two sorts of inconsistency mentioned above. The purpose of this paper is to reframe the discussion so that our evaluation of Philo's ethical consistency turns upon the question of whether Philo has a doctrine akin to that of the Stoic adiaphora, and, if so, whether he considers wealth to be contained therein. My argument aligns with those who claim that Philo's view of wealth is consistent, but I think that we have sufficient evidence to take the argument further. With attention to two Stoic paradoxes--"virtue is the only good" and "the sage alone is rich"--I explain how Philo portrays desire to be dangerous to virtue and consider how he proposes that one may overcome or control desire. I maintain that Philo views desire not so much as being dangerous to virtue as being indicative of the absence of virtue and that Philo supports the extirpation of passions from the human soul. Finally, I argue in favor of Philonic consistency because the literature points us toward the conclusion that Philo does have a doctrine of adiaphora which can be seen to underlie his views about economic wealth.

Philippa Townsend, Princeton University
Being Jewish Under Rome: Philo on Greeks and Egyptians (20 min)
Discussion (25 min)

Abstract: Most scholarship on Philo makes a sharp distinction between his attitudes towards Greeks and Egyptians. However, this paper argues that in Against Flaccus and Embassy to Gaius, Philo quite deliberately elides the distinction between Egyptians and Greeks in Alexandria, consistently referring to the Greek citizens of Alexandria as "Egyptians," with all the attendant connotations of extreme barbarism which that term consistently has in his work. While these texts have often been taken to show that the tension in Alexandria was between Jews and the native Egyptians, this reading suggests that Philo's complaint was actually with the Alexandrian Greeks. Further, this paper argues that the conflation of Greeks and Egyptians in these texts should be understood within a broader context in which Philo was concerned to undermine Greek cultural prestige in the eyes of the Romans. Drawing on evidence from On the Contemplative Life, among other texts, I will argue that in his depiction of Greeks, Philo plays on xenophobic anxieties within Roman society about the degenerative effect of Greek moral laxity, while at the same time attempting to bolster the status of Jews as moral exemplars within the Empire. This paper argues, then, that Philo's depiction of both Greeks and Egyptians can only be understood within the context of a conversation with Rome.

S18-66 Hellenistic Judaism
Joint Session With: Josephus, Hellenistic Judaism
11/18/2007. 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Point Loma - MM

Theme: Josephus

Tessa Rajak, University of Reading, Presiding
Fabian Eugene Udoh, University of Notre Dame
Joseph as a Prototype of the Enslaved: Philo (De Iosepho) and Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews 2.39-90) (20 min)

Abstract: John Byron, in his 2003 study, Slavery Metaphors in Early Judaism and Pauline Christianity, entitles his section on the representation of Joseph in both Philo (De Iosepho) and Josephus (A.J. 2.39-90): “Joseph as a Paradigmatic Enslaved Figure.” He concludes his brief study by noting that “Joseph, as a paradigmatic enslaved figure, represents the pattern of Humiliation-Obedience-Examination.” While one will readily agree that, in both Philo and Josephus, Joseph is a prototype of the enslaved, Byron’s work as a whole betrays negligible contact with the ideology and practice of slavery in the Greco-Roman world. This contact is certainly lacking in his analysis of the figure of Joseph. Byron, consequently, fails to show how Josephus and Philo might be said to see in the slave-Joseph “a prototype of the enslaved.” In this paper, I will examine the notions of slavery that underlie the presentation of Joseph by both Philo and Josephus. I will draw from the extensive literature of slavery (though there is no “slave literature”) by Greco-Roman authors in order to explore the ways in which Philo and Josephus assimilated, and perhaps flouted, the various modes by which the free negotiated and legitimized the social structure of slavery and the meaning it generated. In so doing, I shall seek to uncover in what manner, and to what end, the slave-Joseph is an exemplary slave. This paper will further the on-going discussion of slavery in first-century Judaism and early Christianity, particularly in the New Testament.