Philo of Alexandria Blog

The Studia Philonica Annual is now out. It was available at the SBL Book booth, and soon after I returned home, it arrived in my post box:The Studia Philonica Annual.
Studies in Hellenistic Judaism Volume XIX. 2007

Edited by David T. Runia and Gregory E. Sterling.
(Society of Biblical Literature, Atlanta, 2007). 239pp.



Contents:
ARTICLES
Joan E. Taylor, 'Philo of Alexandria on the Essenes: A Case Study on the Use of Classical Sources in Discussions of the Qumran-Essene Hypothesis,' pp. 1-28;
Lucia Saudell, 'La Hodos anô kai katô d'Héraclite (Fragment 22 B 60 DK/33 M) dans le De Aeternitate Mundi de Philon d'Alexandrie,' pp. 29-58;
Andrew Dinan, 'The Mystery of Play: Clement of Alexandria's Appropriation of Philo in the Paedagogus' (1.5.21.3-22.1), pp. 59-80;

SPECIAL SECTION: PHILO AND THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
John J. Collins, 'Introduction,' pp. 81-84;
Florentino García Martínez, Divine Sonship at Qumran and in Philo,' pp. 85-100;
Hindy Najman, Philosophical Contemplation and Revelatory Inspiration in Ancient Judean Traditions,' pp. 101-112;
Katell Berthelot, Zeal for God and Divine Law in Philo and the Dead Sea Scrolls', pp. 113-129;
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, To What Extent Did Philo's Treatment of Enoch and The Giantrs Presuppose a Knowledge of the Enochic and Other Sources Preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls?' pp. 131-142.
Then, as usual there also is a BIBLIOGRAPHY SECTION(pp. 143-204: An Annotated Bibliography 2004)), and a BOOK REVIEW SECTION (pp. 205-224), and some News and Notes, Notes on Contributors, and Instructions to Contributors.
Again a nice volume with a lot of Philo information for interested Philonists.

PS:I discovered, alas, that there is a missing s in my email adress on p 231; it is torreys@ ... not torrey@ ......

UPDATE THURSDAY NIGHT
Update on the Studia Philonica from David T. Runia:

"Many thanks from the editors of The Studia Philonica Annual to Torrey
for placing the announcement of the publication of this year's
volume. This is the second volume produced in collaboration with SBL
publications. It has to be said that the cover is very similar to
last year's. In fact two of the colleagues in San Diego accidentally
bought copies of last year's volume instead the one for this year
which they wanted! But if it is ordered from SBL hopefully this
mistake will not happen.
We are very proud that we are able to provide this service for
Philonists every year. We ask all scholars interested in Philo and
his legacy to support our working by purchasing the volume, either
for themselves or their institutional library or both. And a special
request for those readers who publish on Philo: as the convenor of
the International Philo Bibliography Project I am always very keen to
hear about publications on Philo in all languages. Please contact me
on my email address, runia@queens.unimelb.edu.au.
David Runia"

Yess, I am back again from The SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego. It was nice to be in San Diego, to feel the mild climate compared to the wet and rainy, cold and stormy western Norway.
But I got sick when I came home, and have had a slow recovery. But now much is better. I will soon post some pictures of the last Philo session, and then I probably will have to get going as normal.

I arrived in San Diego Thursday night, after having spent a couple of days with a brother in Indianapolis. It's a terrible long travel, getting here from Norway. Hence it was good to have a break in Indianapolis, even having a great day of golfing with my two brothers.

Today -Friday - I had breakfast with Ellen Birnbaum and David Runia;- or rather they were having breakfast together, and I were invited to join them when I dumped into Ellen. Two great Philo scholars.
I think I will join the Philo session on Monday, and then I have a lot of other sessions I would like to attend, but even more I have to 'chose away.'

When I get home, I will read the latest book by Sarah Pearse, which arrived just before I left Norway. Ellen B said many nice things about the book.

I must also say, I have bought my self a Palm T/X, and now I have downloaded the free Philo texts, both Greek and English. It is even possible to have both texts on the screen simultaneously, and be able to scroll them both, following each other. A great thing! Now I have Philo in my pocket! (well, don't overinterpet that statement....).

Yesterday I read a posting on the Logos Blog about some sessions that they (www.logos.com) were to be involved in at SBL, but when I looked for it earlier today the blog was -for some reasons - not available.

But now Ellen Birnbaum wrote me today, and reminded me of the sessions, including the whole program, and now the Logos blog is also available.

Focusing on Philo related studies, I would like to point your attention to this sessions (see the Logos Blog for the other sessions):

AM 18-21 Electronic Books and Databases for Research in Josephus, Philo and the Pseudepigrapha
Date: 11/18/2007 - 11:45AM-12:45PM
Room: Manchester 1 - MM

This meeting presents an overview of searchable, morphologically tagged databases of the Greek Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, the writings of Philo (the Philo Concordance project), and the Niese edition of The Works of Josephus with critical apparatus. Along with these databases, scholarly monographs now available in digital form for the study of these texts will be presented.

I am soon on my way to the SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego. I am making a stop in Chicago/ indianapolis, hence I am leaving tomorrow Tuesday. It might turn out to be a busy meeting; seeing people, buying books,- and even attend some lectures. And as usual there is a lot of collisionss of interest, hence pick and choose the best is the way of surviving through it all. Have a nice time.

I usually do not post on my more personal activities of life, but to today I had the wonderful privilege of participating in an extended lunch at Losby Gods, just outside Oslo, celebrating the doyen of Philo studies in Norway, Peder Borgen, and his wife Inger. This fall she was 70, and in January Peder B is 80! Hence they celebrated their 150 years!

They are both still going strong, age taken into consideration, and in good health. It should be of interest to students of both Philo and John (and others...) that they both are going to the SBL Annual Meeting in San Diego this month.

Peder B is to partipate in a seminar on Monday 19:
S19-22 John, Jesus, and History
Joint Session With: John, Jesus, and History, Johannine Literature
11/19/2007. 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Salon G - MM
Theme: The Past, Present, and Future of Johannine Studies, Part I: The Fourth Gospel as/in History
Craig Koester, Luther Seminary, Presiding
D. Moody Smith, Duke University
The Problem of History in John (10 min)
Craig S. Keener, Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University
Genre, Sources, and History (5 min)
J. Louis Martyn, Union Theological Seminary
The Johannine Community Among Jewish and Other Early Christian Communities (10 min)
Adele Reinhartz, University of Ottawa
Reading History in the Fourth Gospel (5 min)
Urban C. Von Wahlde, Loyola University of Chicago
The Road Ahead: Reflections on Johannine Scholarship (10 min)
Felix Just, Santa Clara University
Combining Key Methodologies in Johannine Studies (5 min)
Peder Borgen, University of Trondheim
The Scriptures and the Words and Works of Jesus (10 min)
Michael Labahn, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Living Words and the Bread of Life (5 min)
John F. O'Grady, Barry University
Into the Whirlwind: The Prologue and Chapter 17 of John (10 min)
John Ashton, Oxford, UK
Second Thoughts on the Fourth Gospel (10 min)
Wendy North, Durham University
Why Should Historical Criticism Continue to Have a Place in Johannine Studies? (5 min)
Discussion (50 min). Break (10 min)

This session, then, is directly related to a book that is published this month, in which Peder Borgen, and the others listed above, are contributors:
Thom Thatcher (ed.),
What We Have Heard From the Beginning: The Past, Present and Future of Johaninne StudiesWaco, Texas; Baylor University Press, 2007. 425 pp.
Borgens article is to be found on pp. 39-58: 'The Scripture and the Words of Jesus.'
You can find a full List of Contents of this book here.

I am sure this volume will be an interesting volume assessing the present 'state of the art', and even though this post is not mch related to Philo, I confess my interest both in the SBL session, and the volume.