By Light, Light: The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism

448 Pages·2007·46.37 MB·English

by  Erwin R. Goodenough

BY LIGHT, LIGHT
THE MYSTIC GOSPEL
OF
HELLENISTIC JUDAISM
T H E Y A R E O N T H E W A Y T O T R U T H W H O A P P R E H E N D
G O D B Y M E A N S O F D I V I N I T Y , L I G H T B Y I T S L I G H T
ERWIN R. GOODENOUGH
BY LIGHT, LIGHT
THE MYSTIC GOSPEL
OF
HELLENISTIC JUDAISM
A M S T E R D A M
PHILO PRESS
1969
ERWIN RAMSDELL GOODENOUGH:
BY L I G H T , L I G H T .
T H E MYSTIC G O S P E L O F H E L L E N I S T I C J U D A I S M
FIRST PUBLISHED NEW HAVEN, CONN. 1935.
P H I L O P R E S S
PUBLISHERS
4 .
SINGEL 395
AMSTERDAM C
1969
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
REPRINT 1968 OF THE EDITION NEW HAVEN 1935.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUE CARD NUMBER 35-5958 .
C O N T E N T S
ABBREVIATIONS
INTRODUCTION
I . T H E GOD OF THE MYSTERY
II . T H E HIGHER L A W
III . T H E TORAH
I V . T H E MYSTERY OF AARON
V . ENOS, ENOCH, NOAH, AND ABRAHAM
V I . ISAAC AND JACOB
V I I . MOSES AS PRESENTED TO THE GENTILE INQUIRER
V I I I . T H E MYSTIC MOSES
I X . T H E MYSTERY
X . T H E MYSTERY IN NON-PHILONIC WRITINGS
X I . T H E MYSTIC LITURGY
EPILOGUE: TRACES OF THE MYSTERY IN THE KABBALAH
APPENDIX: L A W IN THE SUBJECTIVE REALM
INDEX I : SUBJECTS AND NAMES
INDEX I I : GREEK WORDS
INDEX I I I : PHILONIC PASSAGES
INDEX I V : NON-PHILONIC PASSAGES
O I K Q I T Q I EMQI
Aeyexai yap OIKOC KCXI TO £K y u v a t K o c Kai
T£KVCJV ouyKpina.
TO t\\bv uoTepyjua ofrroi dveitAyipcjoav.
A B B R E V I A T I O N S
THE text of Philo used, unless otherwise stated, is the Cohn-Wendland edi-
tion of the corpus, Berlin, 1 8 9 6 - 1 9 3 0 ; the last volume, the Index Verborum
by H . Leisegang, is referred to as Leisegang, Index. Works of Philo not
included in this edition, because extant only in Armenian, are used in the
Latin translation by Aucher as reprinted in the Tauchnitz Edition of Philo
(Leipzig, 1 8 5 1 - 1 8 5 3 ) . T h e titles of Philo's works are so long as to compel
a system of abbreviation if they are much used. T h e following table is for
the most part that found in Colson and Whitaker, I, xxiii f. I should like
to see it come to be generally adopted by Philonic scholars for our common
convenience:
Abr. = De Abrahamo.
Aet. = De Aetemitate Mundi.
Agr.= De Agricultura.
Animal. = Alexander sive de eo quod rationem habeant bruta animalia.
Cher. = De Cherubim.
Conf. = De Conjusione Linguarum.
Cong. = De Congressu Eruditioriis Gratia.
Cont. = De Vita Contemplativa.
Decal. = De Decalogo.
Det. = Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari soleat.
Deo = De Deo.
Ebr. = De Ebrietate.
Exs. = De Exsecrationibus.
Viae. = In Flaccum.
Fug. = De Fuga et Inventione (De Profugis).
Gig. = De Gigantibus.
Heres = Quis rerum divinarum Heres.
Immut. = Quod Deus sit Immutabilis.
Jona = De lona.
Jos. = De Josepho.
LA, i, ii, iii = Legum Allegoria, i, ii, iii.
Legat. = Legatio ad Gaium.
Mig. = De Migratione Abrahami.
Mos., i, ii = De Vita Mosis, i, ii.
Mut. = De Mutatione Nominum.
Opif. = De Opificio Mundi.
Plant. = De Plantatione.
Post. = De Posteritate Caini.
Praem. = De Praemiis et Poenis.
Prob. = Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit.
xiv BY LIGHT, LIGHT
Provid. = De Providentia.
QE, i, ii = Quaestiones et Solutiones in Exodum, i, ii.
QG, i, ii, iii, iv = Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesin, i, ii, iii, iv.
Sac. = De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini.
Sob. — De Sobrietate.
Som., i. ii = De Somniis, i, ii.
Spec., i, ii, iii, iv = De Specialibus Legibus, i, ii, iii, iv.
Virt. = De Virtutibus.
BREHIER, Les Idees = Les Idees philosophiques et religieuses de Philon
d'Alexandrie, by fimile Brehier, Second Edition, Paris, 1 9 2 5 .
COLSON and WHITAKER = Philo, with an English Translation, by F . H . Col-
son and G. H . Whitaker, London and N e w York, 1 9 2 9 - 1 9 3 4 . The Loeb
Classical Library (five volumes out of ten are published) .*
HARRIS, Fragments = Fragments of Philo Judaeus, by J. Rendel Harris,
Cambridge, 1886.
HEINEMANN, Bildung = Philons griechische und jiidische Bildung, by I.
Heinemann, Breslau, 1 9 2 1 , 1928 , two volumes.
HEINEMANN, Poseidonios = Poseidonios' metaphysische Schriften, by I.
Heinemann, Breslau, 1 9 2 1 , 1928 , two volumes.
"HELLENISTIC KINGSHIP" = "The Political Philosophy of Hellenistic King-
ship," by Erwin R. Goodenough, Yale Classical Studies, I ( 1 9 2 8 ) , 5 3 - 1 0 2 ,
Yale University Press.
JOSEPHUS is quoted by Book and Section as divided by Benedictus Niese,
Flavii Josephi Opera, Berlin, 1 8 8 7 - 1 8 9 5 , seven volumes.
"NEO-PYTHAG. SOURCE" = "A Neo-Pythagorean Source in Philo Judaeus,"
by Erwin R. Goodenough, Yale Classical Studies, III ( 1 9 3 2 ) , 1 1 5 - 1 6 4 , Yale
University Press.
PASCHER, Konigsweg = H B A Z I A I K H O A O Z : Der Konigsweg zu Wie-
dergeburt und Vergottung bei Philon von Alexandreia, by Joseph Pascher,
Paderborn, 1 9 3 1 (Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums, XVII ,
Parts 3 and 4 ) .
Philos Wer\e = Die Wer\e Philos von Alexandria in deutscher Uberset-
zung, edited by L. Cohn, and then by I. Heinemann, Breslau, 1 9 0 9 - 1 9 2 9 ;
five volumes have been published.
SVF = Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta, collegit Ionnes ab Arnim, Lipsiae,
1 9 2 1 - 1 9 2 4 , four volumes.
*The translations of Philo which follow have been checked with those of the volumes of
this series now available, except the last. Where the authors' rendering could not be improved,
as was often the case, it has been reproduced with the kind permission of the Harvard Univer-
sity Press, the publisher. Yonge's translation, although useful for treatises not yet included in
the Loeb series, could rarely be accepted for more than a line or two without radical emenda-
tion. Responsibility for all translations included is of course mine. Greek writers are quoted in
English for the benefit of those whose Greek is laborious.