RPBS updated

My Resource Page for the Study of Philo has been updated today, together with the rest of the pages belonging to my site Resource Pages for Biblical Studies. You can see a summary of the new items added here: News2005.

Recommended Reading List III

This is the third posting in a series of Recommended Reading Lists in Philo. The first postings can be read below, or by clicking here:

• Recommended Reading List I
• Recommended Reading List II.

Recommended Reading List III

As mentioned in the former posting on Recommended Readings, E.R. Goodenough provides some very useful suggestions of where to start and how to proceed when wanting to read the works of Philo himself; that is, he recommends which works to start with, and how to work one’s way through the writings of Philo. I recommend these suggestions of Goodenough, and present them below.

I have, however, deliberately refrained from commenting on the contents of each individual treaties. If the reader has read through the other introductory material mentioned in the two former postings on Recommended Readings, s/he will already have an impression of what to expect/what to look for.

In addition, here is the time to return to the introductory work of Schrenk, which provides brief characterizations of the individual treatises of Philo.

However, if one want a much more thorough presentation of the various writings of Philo, one should turn to the comprehensive introduction to Philo and his works written by Peder Borgen

Peder Borgen, Philo of Alexandria; An Exegete for his Time (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 86; Leiden, Brill, 1997).There is, for the time being, no real competitor out to this work for those who wants a more comprehensive introduction to Philo. It functions quite well as a companion when reading the works of Philo himself too.

1) The first work(s) to read, according to Goodenough, is
Against Flaccus, and
The Embassy to Gaius.
These are the more historical treatises of Philo. They are not his first writings, but they demonstrate how Philo considered the situation of the Jews in the Diaspora, but also the role of Israel.

2) Next comes On the Contemplative Life.
It is fragmentary, but was probably a part of an apology for the Jews, addressed to Gentiles. This work should be followed by the remains of what is now called
The Hypothetica,
a work that also should be categorized as apologetical, written for a Gentile audience.

3) According to Goodenough then, the student should next read Philo’s two books on
The Life of Moses De vita Mosis I-II.
As in the ancient time, Goodenough surmises, reading these books will probably make the reader eager to get to know more about the Jewish traditions. This can be obtained by reading further in Philo’s works, proceeding with

4) The Exposition of the Laws.
This is a not a label made by Philo, but is made by scholars in recent times, constituting a comprehensive category, comprising several treatises, representing Philo’s expositions of the Law; according to Goodenough,- written for the Gentiles.

On the Creation of the World (De Opificio Mundi)
On Abraham (De Abrahamo)
On Joseph (De Josepho)
On the Deacalogue (De Decalogue)
On The Special Laws I-IV (De Specialibus Legibus I-IV)
On Vitues (De virtutibus)
On Rewards and Punishments (De praemis et poenis)
Goodenough then says: “The reader who has followed Philo to this point has had a very good introduction to the man, and stands at the threshold of his deeper thought” (p. 45).


5) The next group of writings to be read, many scholars suggest are written for the more informed readers. It is as Philo here wants to lead his readers further into his intellectual world. These works are also much more allegorical; according to Goodenough they were written for the Jews. Not all scholars of today are in complete agreement with Goodenough in dividing the intended readers in Gentile and Jewish readers in this way, but most would probably agree that the treatises to be mentioned (and read) now, are for the more advanced readers. Anyway, a reader of today will probably be much better off if s/he read the Expositio before these.

The Allegory
Consists of 18 titles and 21 books; it starts out from specific biblical texts, but often digresses from in a way sometimes quite frustrating to the uninformed reader. Goodenough suggests that “Philo meant these works to be read by initiates who knew the main parts of his doctrines, and who would read them as books of devotion” p.47).

These books take their point of departures in some specific biblical texts. I will here list them according to the biblical texts they deal with:

Legum allegoriae I (Genesis 2:1-17)
Legum allegoriae II (Genesis 2:18-3:1a)
Legum allegoriae III Genesis 3:8b-19)
De Cherubim Genesis 3:24-4:1)
De sacrificcis Abelis et Caini Genesis 4:2-4)
Quod deterius potiori insidiari soleat Genesis 4:8-15)
De posteritate Caini Genesis 4:16-25)
De gigantibus Genesis 6:1-4a)
Quod deus sit immutabilis Genesis 6:4b-12)
De agricultura Genesis 9:20-21)
De plantatione Genesis 9:20-21)
De ebrietate Genesis 9:20-21)
De confusione linguarum Genesis 11:1-9)
De migratione Abrahami Genesis 12:1-6)
Quis rerum divinarum heres Genesis 15:2-18)
De congressu quaerendae eruditionis gratia Genesis 16:1-6)
De fuga et inventione Genesis 16:6b-14)
De mutatione nominum Genesis 17:1-5, 16-22)
De Deo Genesis 18)
De somniis I Genesis 28:10-22 + 31:10-13)
De somniis II Genesis 37:8-11; 40:9-11, 16-17; 41:17-24)



Having read through The Allegory, there remain only a few works.

Questions and Answers ad Genesim
Questions and Answers ad Exodum
These are a kind of commentaries on two biblical books, but commentaries in form of questions and answers. They may very well originate in some setting of teaching of Philo, and are interesting as examples of how he could deal with particular texts.

The rest belong to the more philosophical works of Philo. Some of them demonstrate too that there are parts missing, or in some cases only one of a two volume work is preserved. Those who have managed to read through the abovementioned works of Philo will surely want to read these too; and in this way they will have a great impression of how variegated the authorship of Philo was and is:

On the Eternity of the World
Every Good Man is Free,
On Providence,
Alexander, or On the Question whether dumb animals have the power of reason.

Proselytizing activity?

In a comment to a posting of mine below Mike Bird asks if Could you guys blog on Philo's witness to Jewish missionary activity in the Diaspora? It is something that has interested me. In short, does Philo attest Jewish proselytizing activity amongst Gentiles. Several monographs have touched upon this (McKnight, Feldman, Goodman and recently John P. Dickson). On my part, this is problematic; on the one hand, I don't think there is much to go by in the work of Philo; on the other hand, as I am for the time being living away from my main library, I don't have the relevant books available (such as e.g., McKnights book). There is much about proselytism in the works of Philo, but I don't think one will find much about 'proselytizing activities', whatever these might be defined.

If any others readers, however, co-blogger Kåre or others, would like to throw in some pennies here, please use the comments field below. It might get something started.

Review of Hindy Najman's book

SBL's BookReviews service now presents a review of Hindy Najman's book from 2002; both the boook and the review are relevant for philonists:Hindy Najman,Seconding Sinai: The Development of Mosaic Discourse in Second Temple Judaism (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 77; Leiden: Brill, 2002). Pp. xiv + 176. The volume is reviewed by Thomas Römer, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Let we me give a couple of excerpts from the review:

"This book is a very important contribution to the understanding of Second Temple
Judaism. Najman investigates how Jewish “noncanonical” writings at the end of the Persian period down to the Roman era sought to legitimate themselves by reference to Mosaic discourse. In the first chapter, Najman investigates the connection between the Deuteronomistic concept of Torah and the figure of Moses. After preliminary considerations on Foucault’s theory of discourse, Najman opposes the common view that Deuteronomy would have been written in order to replace the older Covenant Code. In her view such an idea is purely anachronistic. First of all, she states that there is no evidence in the book of Deuteronomy that it was written as a replacement of a former code (24). One should think instead of co-existence of both law collections, which “served as a license to continue the creative hermeneutical endeavor in the future” (25). Since the book of Deuteronomy refers to itself as Torah and presents itself as a Mosaic discourse, it claims authority as a “re-presentation” of Sinai. This model of authoritative interpretation of tradition will play an important role in later Second Temple Judaism."

The third chapter of the book deals with Philo:
"Chapter 3 deals with the reference to Moses in the work of Philo of Alexandria. Philo’s main concern was to show that the laws of Moses were superior to the laws of all the other nations because they were copies of the laws of nature. But since in the Greek conception the law of nature could not be a written law, Philo had to claim that the universal law found a perfect particular copy in the law of Moses. The law of Moses (the Pentateuch) is not simply a code of precepts but contains also the account of the divine creation of nature as well as of the patriarchs, who conformed to the laws of nature. Finally, it contains also the life of Moses, which Philo presents following the conventions of Greek aretalogies (initiation into mysteries, foundation of a legislation, his almost divine character). In contrast to Jubilees and the Temple Scroll, Philo subordinated the law of Moses to the figure of Moses, since the Sinaitic law is presented as a copy of the law of nature."

Read the whole review for yourself by clicking here: Seconding Sinai.

Recommended Reading List II

This is the second posting in a series of Recommended Reading Lists in Philo. The first posting can be read below, or by clicking here.

Recommended Reading List II.

I would still recommend the reader to postpone a little more the reading of the works of Philo. Reading a couple of more introductory articles will greatly inform the readers of both what to look for and what has been discussed in more recent research.

Of course, there is here also the danger of being (too) influenced by former research instead of reading the works of Philo in a fresh way by oneself. Nevertheless, I still do think the works of Philo are so complex that if you want to read through the works of Philo to see what he says, and to understand what he is trying to say, the procedure of mine is preferable.

The introductory articles I want to recommend today are the following two, both written by Peder Borgen: Borgen, Peder. "Philo of Alexandria." In Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period. (Compendia Rerum ad Ioudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum), II,2, (Assen, 1985), pp. 233–82.

Borgen, Peder. "Philo of Alexandria A Critical and Synthetical Survey of Research Since World War II." In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II 21,1 : Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forschung. 2, Principat. Religion: (Hellenistisches Judentum in römischer Zeit: Philon und Josephus), edited by Wolfgang Haase, (Berlin, 1984), pp. 98-154.There is another introductory volume that not has been mentioned so far. It is introductory, but perhaps it nevertheless should not be the first volume to be read by beginners; I am here thinking of

Erwin R. Goodenough,. An Introduction to Philo Judaeus (J. Neusner. Brown Classics in Judaica. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc., 1986; orig.publ.1940, sec. ed. 1962).
Goodenough had some specific ideas about the Judaism of Philo, and about the mystical nature of his religion. You will find an excurse on Goodenough in Sandmels work mentioned in the former posting of mine.

However, Goodeough provides some very useful suggestions of how to proceed when starting to read the works of Philo himself; that is, he recommends which works to start with, and how to work ones way through the writings of Philo. I recommend these suggestions of Goodenough, and shall present them in a more comprehensive way in my next posting concerning Recommended Readings.

Paperbak editions of relevant books of research

In a former posting, I commented on the fact that the SBL has received the the right to publish paperback editions of ten Brill cloth titles each year. In a recent letter, Bob Buller informs me that the SBL will be soon be publishing paperback editions of several Brill titles of interest to Philo scholars.
The first volumes out will be
Peder Borgen, Philo of Alexandria, An Exegete for His Time, NovTSup, $35.95
Pieter Willem van der Horst, Philo's Flaccus: The First Pogrom, Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, $29.95
Both volumes will be available for purchase at the SBL Annual Meeting in Philadelphia at a 40 percent discount or for order at the same discount by members unable to attend. This is good news for those who didn't know these volumes, and even greater for those who didn't have the possibility of buying the first editions.
I don't know for sure, but I presume that the price mentioned above, is before the discount.

Recommended Reading List I

Some readers would perhaps expect that I would recommend reading the texts of Philo first of all; but no. I don't think that is a smart procedure. The danger is inherent that the reader will soon get lost in the many arguments, digressions and expositions of Philo, and get too frustrated. There are many trees in the wood of Philo. One need a map.

I would like to suggest it is better to first read some introductory material to Philo, and then turn to the texts, and then turn to some further introductory matters. Then one could proceed by studying some selected topics. I will return to these issues in later postings, and suggest where to start, and how to read through the works of Philo.

But first now some introductory reading. I might recommend that one should start with some rather brief introductions to Philo. Here is two informative articles, written by one of the Philo experts of our time:David T. Runia, 'How to read Philo,' Idem, Exegesis and Philosophy: Studies on Philo of Alexandria (Variorum, Aldershot, 1990), pp. 185-198.

David T. Runia, "Philo, Alexandrian and Jew," Idem, Exegesis and Philosophy: Studies on Philo of Alexandria (Variorum, Aldershot, 1990), pp. 1-18.
Then the reader should proceed with the most recent introduction to Philo, and work his/her way through these pages. It is a small, but very informative introduction:
Kenneth Schenck, A Brief Guide to Philo Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005, pp. xi + 172, Paperback.
This is an informative and practical introduction; I presume the reader will be tempted more than once to turn directly to the works of Philo, but be patient. Don't do it. There is more to come. Perhaps one might want, for the time being, to skip chapter 6 as this deals with the individuals writings of Philo. Hence it might be smart to save this section to when actual reading the works of Philo.I have a review of this work here: Review of Biblical Literature 07/2005
Then I strongly recommend reading one more introduction before turning to the texts of Philo (remember; patience is a virtue..)
Samuel Sandmel, Philo of Alexandria; An Introduction (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 1979) This is a very good introduction too, written by a Jewish scholar. It is somewhat larger than the former by Schenck, and will lead the reader to the point of being further initiated into the world of Philo. How to proceed will be the topic of my next posting on "Recommended Readings."

The Making of Fornication

Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.10.19, has a review presenting a book that, to some extent, at least, also deals with the works of Philo:
Kathy L. Gaca, The Making of Fornication: Eros, Ethics, and Political Reform in Greek Philosophy and Early Christianity.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. Pp. xvii, 359. ISBN 0-520-23599-1. $60.00.
Reviewed by Amy Richlin, UCLA (richlin@humnet.ucla.edu)
The reviewer states in her introduction:"The Making of Fornication is among the dozen most important books on
the history of sexuality in the ancient Mediterranean. It presents the
most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of sexuality in Greek
philosophy; and makes a major statement of the relationship between the
views of Greek philosophy and early Christianity on sexual ethics; and
does much to clarify and distinguish among Christian views. I've been
reading in this field for a long time, and there is a great deal in
this book that I have never seen before. Tantum religio potuit suadere
malorum; I do not write here from a neutral position, and neither does
Gaca. Her book shows what happened in the 200s CE to put us in the bind we're in today."

Then she says:

"Rather than explaining why Christian sexual ethics caught on -- a great
mystery --, the book shows how it evolved. The book is divided into
three parts: first on Greek philosophy (Plato, the Stoics, and the
Pythagoreans and late Stoics); second on the Septuagint, Paul, and
Philo; third on Tatian, Clement, and Epiphanes. Parts one and two are
needed to see not only the forebears of the thinkers in part three but
also where they diverged radically from these forebears, just as Philo
and Paul each diverged from theirs."

The Complete Works of Philo of Alexandria Concordance

It seems to be true. Gorgias Press is willing to print the whole (sic) Philo concordance a s a Key-word-in-context concordance. It is going to be expensive, but if you are a Philo-fan, what does it matter? ;-)

I have been working with this project the last couple of months, trying to find the best way to present Philo's words in context. I have been struggling with SuperCard scripts to include as many words as possible, thought not too many, while at the same time placing the text-form in the middle of the sentence.

I am still browsing through every page (ca. 8000) of this forthcoming concordance to see if everything is in order, but until now it seems fine.

Vereine, Synagogen und Gemeinden

Mohr - Siebeck announces in a recent posting a new volume on the Greco-Roman clubs and associations. It is interesting to see how this phenomena of the Greco-Roman social world has gained interest in the last 20 years or so. After a flourishing period at the begining of the twentieth century, it has received new attention, not at least in relation to the communities reflected in the New Testament. The present volume is an addition to these publications: Vereine, Synagogen und Gemeinden im kaiserzeitlichen Kleinasien.
Hrsg. v. Andreas Gutsfeld u. Dietrich-Alex Koch
(Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum / Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity 25).Ca. 200 Seiten.
ISBN 3-16-148620-X fadengeheftete Broschur € 44.00 2005.
Contents:
T. Schmeller: Zum exegetischen Interesse an antiken Vereinen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert
A.J.B. Sirks: Die Vereine in der kaiserlichen Gesetzgebung
V. Hirschmann: Heidelberg Macht durch Integration? Aspekte einer gesellschaftlichen Wechselwirkung zwischen Verein und Stadt am Beispiel der Mysten und Techniten des Dionysos von Smyrna
D. Brabant: Persönliche Gotteserfahrung und religiöse Gruppe die Therapeutai des Asklepios in Pergamon
S. Sommer: Religion und Vereinigungsunruhen in der Kaiserzeit D. Schinkel: "Und sie wußten nicht, warum sie zusammengekommen waren" Gruppen und Gruppeninteressen in der Demetriosepisode (Apg 19, 2340)
J.M.G. Barclay: Money and Meetings: Group Formation among Diaspora Jews and Early Christians
D.-A. Koch/D. Schinkel: Die Frage nach den Vereinen in der Geistes- und Theologiegeschichte des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des zeitgenössischen Vereinswesens und der "Wende" in der protestantischen Theologie nach 1918
R.S. Ascough: Voluntary Associations and the Formation of Pauline Christian Communities: Overcoming the Objections

No Top 25 list

There will be no Top 10 or 25 list on this blog: I don't think it is a good idea, though I once considered the idea of presenting a review of those Philo scholars I have benefited most of by reading their works. But I'll skip that too.

But it is my intention to present some suggestions here called
'Recommended Reading List'
for those interesting in Philo. I will start with the very introductory works for novices who want to be initiated into the philonic world, and then proceed to more specialized topics. Time will tell how far this will go; it might also depend on suggestions from the readers.
But stay tuned; some Recommended Reading Lists are to come...... :-)

Greek Pseudepigrapha is Closing In

This posting may sound like an advertisement, but it is not. I am not affiliated with the company concerned, but I simply want to support a good case, the digitalization of the pseudepigrapha and its incorporation into a relevant 'bible' program.

The Logos Bible Sofware has announced their publication within their Scholars Library Programs the Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology. But as usually they present a prepublication period to see if there is enough interest in the marked.

Now it turns out that the presubscriptions have been a little lower than expected: According to a recent posting on their blog, the subscription period is closing in, and it has still not reached the anticipated level.
Hence, if you had planned to buy this item, don't hesitate, but make an subscription!

Well, this probably got the form of an advertisement after all. The fact is, I have subscribed to the texts, adn I would really like to see that the project got realized. That's my interest in the whole thing.

The good thing about having these Greek texts available, is that the English translation by Charles is already available; hence they can be used together. Even though Charles' is an older translation, it is still useful. I must admit I have greater problems with the old Yonge's translation of Philo's works that is also available at the Logos (and can be used together with the Greek Philo texts just published by Logos.)

Well, well time will tell, if I ever get the Greek Pseudepigrapha.

While speaking of the Pseudepigrapha, I also discovered some links I have not yet incorporated on my Resource Pages for Biblical Study: The Online Critical Pseudepigrapha.
Online Gritical Pseudepigrapha News ( a blog)

Quaestiones project

A research position has been set up at the Institutum Judaicum Delitschianum with the support of the "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft". The purpose will be to deliver the first German translation of the Quaestiones in Genesim and the Questiones in Exodum by Philo of Alexandria which are currently extent only in Armenian. The translation will be more directly from Armenian into German, but with reference to Greek idiomatics which are still traceable tin the text. A provisional translation of the first part (QG, Book 1) can be found here.

Top 25

There has been some blogging out there on the possibilities of setting up a Top 25 list of the most interesting, biblical scholars in history. Michael Bird presented his list, and Sean de Toit has his list which is quite different.

I don't think we should set up a list of Philo scholars, but would be interested in the readers favorites of scholars that have dealt with the Greco-Roman Jewish diaspora in the last century. Any suggestions about who should be on such a list? Victor Tcherikover, Louis Feldman, S. Applebaum, W.C. van Unnik, G. Delling, E.R. Goodenough, and S. Sandmel immediately come to my mind; other suggestions are welcome!

The Gospel of John and Philo

Since I am a co-blogger and this is also about Philo, I guess I am entitled to advertise my book on John (with Qumran and Philo). I just arrived from Brill. Very exciting feeling, I must admit. It will take me several days to dare to open it (error phobia & mania).

Anyway: The title is Johannine Sectarianism in Perspective where Philo (and Qumran) is one of the alternative angles from which the Gospel of John is viewed (in addition to different modern sociological models as alternatives to «sect»). The Brill URL is http://www.brill.nl/m_catalogue_sub6_id23505.htm