Exegesis and Philosophy: Studies on Philo of Alexandria (Variorum Collected Studies)

319 Pages·1990·20.41 MB·English

by  David T. Runia

Professor David T. Runia
David T. Runia
Exegesis and Philosophy
Studies on Philo of Alexandria
VARIORUM
British Library CIP Data Runia, David T.
Exegesis and philosophy : studies on
Philo of Alexandria.
(Collected Studies Series : 332)
1. Jewish Philosophy. Philo,
Alexandria
I. Title II. Series
181.06
ISBN 0-86078-287-5
This edition copyright
© 1990 bx Variorum
Published bx Variorum
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Gower Publishing Company
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Printed in Great Britain bx Galliard (Printers) Ltd
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COLLECTED STUDIES CS 332
CONTENTS
Preface
SECTION ONE: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
I Philo, Alexandrian and Jew
previously unpublished
II How to read Philo
Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 40.
The Hague: Boekencentrum, 1986
III Polis and megalopolis: Philo
and the founding of Alexandria
Mnemosyne 42.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989
SECTION TWO: EXEGESIS
IV The structure of Philo's allegorical treatises
Vigiliae Christianae 38.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984
V Further observations on the structure
of Philo's allegorical treatises
Vigiliae Christianae 41.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1987
VI Mosaic and Platonist exegesis:
Philo on 'finding' and 'refinding'
Vigiliae Christianae 40.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1986
VII Review of: R. Goulet, La philosophic de Mo'ise
Journal of Theological Studies 40.
Oxford: University Press, 1989
vi
SECTION THREE: PHILOSOPHY
VIII Philo's De aeternitate mundi: 105-151
the problem of its interpretation
Vigiliae Christianae 35.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981
IX Redrawing the map of early Middle Platonism: 85-104
some comments on the Philonic evidence
Hellenica etJudaica: hommage
a Valentin Nikiprowetzky
ed. A. Caquot-M. Hadas-Lebel-J. Riaud.
Leuven-Paris: Editions Peeters, 1986
X History of philosophy in the grand manner: 112-133
the achievement of H.A. Wolfson
Philosophia Reformata 49.
Utrecht: Centrum voor Reformatorische
Wijsbegeerte, 1984
SECTION FOUR: THEOLOGY
XI Naming and knowing: themes in 69-91
Philonic theology with special reference
to the De mutatione nominum
Knowledge of God in the Graeco-Roman world,
ed. R. van den Broek-T. Baarda-J. Mansfeld,
EPRO 112
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988
XII God and man in Philo of Alexandria 48-75
Journal of Theological Studies 39.
Oxford: University Press, 1988
XIII Review of: F. Siegert, Philon von 398-405
Alexandrien: Uber die Gottesbezeichnung
"wohltdtig verzehrendes Feuer" (De Deo)
Vigiliae Christianae 43.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989
Addenda et Corrigenda
Index
This volume contains x + 308 pages
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
The articles in this volume, as in all others in the Collected
Studies Series, have not been given a new, continuous
pagination. In order to avoid confusion, and to facilitate
their use where these same studies have been referred to
elsewhere, the original pagination has been maintained
wherever possible.
Each article has been given a Roman number in order of
appearance, as listed in the contents. This number is
repeated on each page and quoted in the index entries.
References to the Addenda at the end of the volume are
indicated by asterisks in the margin by the passages
concerned.

PREFACE
One of the more trying aspects of writing a lengthy study is that one has to
'put the nose to the grindstone'. In the course of research many interesting
topics and themes emerge which one would like to look at further, but it is
wiser to concentrate on the task at hand. This at least was my experience,
when I was preparing my study on Philo of Alexandria and the Timaeus of
Plato, which first appeared in 1983 in a provisional edition (dissertation
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam), and was soon thereafter published in a
slightly revised version (Leiden 19862). The studies collected together in this
volume were, with one exception, written in the years 1984-89. They tackle
questions that intrigued or perplexed me while I was working on the above-
mentioned study, but which I did not find time to investigate in depth until
later. If these studies have a certain unity of perspective and purpose, as I
would like to think, then the reason will no doubt lie in the circumstances just
outlined.
The one exception is study VIII on the interpretation of Philo's De
aeternitate mundi, published in 1981. It is in fact the remnant of an earlier
research project. When I first started working on Philo, my aim was to
prepare a study on the literary and philosophical features of the five so-called
philosophical treatises, and their relation to the remainder of Philo's oeuvre.
But three of these works are only available in an Armenian version, and the
absence of reliable translations caused me to abandon the project (in the case
of De animalibus the lacuna has since been filled by A. Terian, but De
providentia still awaits a critical edition, translation and commentary).
While writing my study on Philo's use of Plato's famous cosmological
dialogue, I became convinced that the clue to his thought lay in the correct
appreciation of the relation between exegesis and philosophy. In taking this
view I built on the foundations laid by the magisterial studies of Valentin
Nikiprowetzky on Philo's use of scripture, even if I did not agree with him
on every point. Exegesis and philosophy thus constitute two divisions of this
collection, while a third on theology brings the two central concerns even
closer together in a concentration on specifically theological themes. As
argued in a methodologically oriented essay with the hopefully not too
pretentious title 'How to read Philo' (study II), one should not pursue Philo's
philosophical thought without taking the exegetical context into account. For
this reason it is of paramount concern that we understand how Philo
undertakes to present his exegesis. There still remains a great deal of research
X
to be done in this area, particularly in the case of his great Allegorical
Commentary. Two long articles are devoted to this question (studies IV-V),
undertaking both to summarize the state of current research and point the
way to fresh avenues of approach.
Another concern which emerges in most of the studies in this volume is
the attempt to place Philo in his context in the history of philosophy.
Although it is agreed by all nowadays that Philo stands close to the begin­
nings of Middle Platonism, much still remains unclear. In studies VI, IX and
XI an attempt is made to supply and evaluate further evidence in this area.
Studies XI and XII also look forward to a later period, when Philo will exert
an important influence on Patristic thought, and especially the ideas of the
Alexandrian theologians Clement and Origen. Although H. A. Wolfson's
view on the importance of Philo for the history of philosophy cannot be
accepted in the extreme form in which he presents it (see the critique in study
X), he is surely right in seeing Philo as a milestone in the history of thought,
as the Judaeo-Christian and Greek traditions converge and meet for the first
time. The theme of Philo's impact on Patristic thought is one of the areas in
which I intend to continue my researches during the forthcoming period.
I would like to express a warm vote of thanks to the various publishers who
generously gave me permission to reproduce the studies and reviews
collected in this volume. Their names are recorded in the table of contents. In
this regard it would not be unfair to make special mention of the Dutch
publisher E. J. Brill in Leiden. More than half the studies in this book
originally appeared in journals or series published by this firm.
The appearance of this collection is a fine opportunity to indicate my debt
to the three Dutch scholars who encouraged me to pursue my studies from
the time that I arrived in this country, namely Professors A. P. Bos, J. C. M.
van Winden, J. Mansfeld (in chronological order). Also I am deeply indebted
to the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.), who sup­
ported me financially for most of the period during which these articles were
written. My other friends in the world of Philonic scholarship are so
numerous that it wouldbe invidious tosingleout any of them in particular.
Their names will be found richly distributed throughout this book.
DAVID T. RUNIA
Faculteit der Wijsbegeerte
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
The Netherlands
July 1990
I
PHILO, ALEXANDRIAN AND JEW*
'What does Jerusalem have to do with Athens?' was the question posed
by the Church Father Tertullian in one of his powerful attacks on
pagan culture* The answer he expected his rhetorical question to
receive was, of course: 'nothing at all'. Our answer in the context of
this article might rather be: 'Alexandria has to do with them both'.
Although the city of Alexandria has gained its own niche in the history
of Western culture, it could be argued that the important role played
by this city in the history of Judaism and Christianity receives less
attention than it deserves. First the Jewish community and later the
Christian Church flourished there for a period that spanned nearly a
millenium. These two communities had their own Bible in a version
which has remained canonical in the Eastern Church to this very day.
The recent initiative of Marguerite Harl and her team of collaborators
to prepare translations and commentaries on the books of the Septu-
agint under the title La Bible d'Alexandrie deserves the highest praise.1
The aim of this contribution is to introduce the reader to one of the
most outstanding figures in the long history of Alexandria, the Jew
Philo. The main reason we are in a position to know so much about
this man and his thought is that about fifty of his writings have been
preserved. This introductory account will chiefly concentrate on Phi­
lo's thought as seen from the perspective of the interaction between
Greek and Jewish ideas that takes place in the above-mentioned works.
But first we shall have to find out a little more about the city and the
man who lived his entire life there.
This article was originally published in a Dutch version under the title 'Philo,
Alexandrijn enjood' in the journal for Dutch classics teachers Lampas22 (1989) 205-
218, as part of a special number devoted to the question of the acculturation of Jews
in the Greco-Roman society of their time. The general theme of the fascicle deter­
mined the particular emphases of my article, which was intended to present Philo as
a kind of case study.
1 Titles that have appeared so far are Harl (1986), Harle-Pralon (1988), Le
Boulluec-Sandevoir (1989).