Vacation time

For a short week or so, I'll be away on our vacation, celebrating Christmas in our Norwegian way. We will stay at our cabin, away from the Internet, and hopefully, enjoy some quiet and refreshing days.
To all readers; have a nice season all of you, wherever you are.
See you next year!

Feldman on Philo and Balaam

Having published an article on Philo; magic and Balaam earlier this year, it is interesting to come upon an an article by Louis H. Feldman on a similar topic; Philo's Version of Balaam, published in Henoch XXV (2003), pp. 301-319.
I was not aware of this article when I wrote mine, hence it is especially interesting to see that Feldman reaches mainly the same conclusions concerning Philo's use of the Balaam figure as I did.
Feldman too says that from the extraordinary amount of space given to Balaam in Philo's works, it is obvious that he was of great interest to Philo. There are several reasons for this interest; First, Philo is much concerned with the phenomenon of prophecy, second, Balaam had a great reputation. thirdly, Philo denigrates Balaam as a prophet because to Philo Moses is the greatest prophet. Furthermore, Moses was known as a magician in several circles, hence Philo wanted to contrast Balaam with Moses in order to emphasize the purity and greatness of Moses in contrast to the magician Balaam.Finally, Philo's editorial-like comments on the figure of Balaam suggests that Philo is here preaching to his contemporaries against the presence of magic in Jewish Alexandria.

Felman refers, inter alia, to an article by Harold Remus, "Moses and the thaumaturges: Philo's De Vita Mosis as a rescue Operation," in Laval Theologique et Philosophiique 52 (1996): 665-680. Alas, this article is not available in Norway. But according to the summary at the link above, Remus argues in a similar way, and reaches similar conclusions as Feldman and I. My article is, however, more focused on establishing Philo's attitude to magic, while Remus and Feldman focus more on the contrast to Philo's portrait of Moses.

The Roman Collegia

My review of J. S. Perry,
The Roman Collegia. The Modern Evolution of an Ancient Concept (Mnemosyne Supplementa cclxvii; Leiden: Brill, 2006),
was sent to BrynMawr Classical Review today. It should be out in a couple of months.

Acculturation and Identity in the Diaspora:

Having a look over at Philip Harland's website, I discovered he has a new article out, and as usual I find his works interesting:Philip Harland, 'Acculturation and Identity in the Diaspora:A Jewish Family and 'Pagan' Guilds at Hierapolis,' orig. printed in Journal of Jewish Studies 57 (2006) 222-244. I hope I get time in the nearby Christmas holidays to read it,- and several others...

Studies in Josephus and His Contra Apionem

Thursday 14. desember 2006 10.15am
there is a public disputatio at the MF Norwegian School of Theology where the PhD candidate will defend his dr. thesis

‘Beyond Philosophy:
Studies in Josephus and His Contra Apionem’

The dissertation “Beyond Philosophy: Studies in Josephus and His Contra Apionem” is a collection of essays. Four previously published essays appear in the dissertation in their original form. In addition, an introduction and two lengthy essays were composed during the final stages of the project. All the essays share a common focus: Josephus’ Roman context.

Abstracts of the thesis are given here in Norwegian and English

Opponents are prof dr. John M. G. Barclay, Durham (1) and prof dr. theol. Per Bilde, Aarhus (2). Prof dr. theol. Hans Kvalbein, Oslo-MF, was the third member of the evaluation committee.

This is the first dissertation on Josephus ever written by a Norwegian.
Congratulations to Gunnar Haaland!

His probevorlesungen/test lectures were given wednesday, and were as follows:

Given topic:
’ Luke-Acts and Josephus: How does the presentation of the Jesus movement in
Luke-Acts compare to Josephus' presentation of Judaism in Contra Apionem?’

Topic chosen by the candidate:
’Deconstructing Donkeys: Matthew 21:2-7 and Rabbinic Midrash’

More on the SPhA 2006

Thanks to David T. Runia, I am now able to provide some more info about the contents of the most recent volume of the Studia Philonica Annual:

The editors of The Studia Philonica Annual are very pleased to announce the publication of Volume XVIII (2006). For the first time this volume is being published by SBL Publications (Atlanta). The Annual has been given an attractive new cover, showing a depiction of Ezra reading the Law from the Synagogue of Dura Europa.

We are convinced that this year’s volume will contain much material of interest to the Philonist and anyone working in the area of Hellenistic Judaism and its context in the ancient world. Through its bibliography, book reviews and other features it allows its readers to remain up to date on the latest developments in Philonic scholars. It is moreover attractively presented and priced.

We invite scholars to support our work by purchasing this volume.

Here are the publication details:
The Studia Philonica Annual. Studies in Hellenistic Judaism
Volume 18, 2006
David T. Runia and Gregory E. Sterling, editors
256 pages. ISBN 1-58983-253-1. Price $39.95 Cloth

Contents
Articles
Announcements; Steven Di Mattei, Moses’ Physiologia and the Meaning and Use of Physikôs in Philo of Alexandria’s Exegetical Method;
Philip R. Bosman, Conscience and Free Speech in Philo;
Pieter W. van der Horst, Two Short Notes on Philo.

Special Section: Philo’s De Virtutibus
David T. Runia, Introduction;
David Konstan, Philo’s De virtutibus in the Perspective of Classical Greek Philosophy;
James R. Royse, The Text of Philo’s De virtutibus;
Gregory E. Sterling, “The Queen of the Virtues”: Piety in Philo of Alexandria.

Review Article
Julia Annas, Recent Work on Plato’s Timaeus

Bibliography Section
D. T. Runia, E. Birnbaum, K. A. Fox, A. C. Geljon, H. M. Keizer, J. P. Martín, R. Radice, J. Riaud, D. Satran, G. Schimanowski, T. Seland,
Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 2003;
Supplement: Provisional Bibliography 2004–2006.


Book reviews by Cameron Boyd-Taylor, Jean Riaud, Erich S. Gruen, Andrei A. Orlov, John W. Marshall, Michael E. Stone, Ronald R. Cox, Maren Niehoff, David T. Runia
News and Notes; Notes on Contributors; Instructions to Contributors.

For more detailed contents and order form see the Annual’s website www.nd.edu/~philojud Or visit the SBL site, www.sbl-site.org

New URL

Kåre Fuglseth informs me that there has been a change in the url to his The Norwegian Philo Concordance Project page:

The new url is: http://webster.hibo.no/alu/seksjon/krl/kaare/filon/index.html

Officina Magica

Another note of Jim Davila (cp. below) made me aware of a recent book on Magic I hadn't noticed yet: Officina Magica: Essays on the Practice of Magic in Antiquity (Ijs Studies in Judaica, V. 4).Brill 2005.

The publishers 'blurb' says: "This book discusses various aspects of the theory and practice of magic in antique cultures around the Mediterranean. While some of its contributors address problems of methodology of research into magic and the definition of magic, others deal with specific historical and textual issues. Although a major focus is on Jewish texts ranging from antiquity to the medieval period, the book also includes studies of several magical texts from ancient Mesopotamia and their impact on later magical practice, and studies of Greek and Zoroastrian texts and artifacts. The approaches thus range from the examination of textual or visual sources to theoretical issues such as the history of research and the definition of magic."

I wonder if anyone 'out there' knows if this volume contains any article or sections related to magic in Philo's works? I presume Jim, for one, would know... A comment in my comments field below would be welcome..

Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft

Just a brief note on a new journal that has appeared, and a pointer to its webpage Magic, Ritual & Witchcraft(thanks to Jim Davila and manuscriptboy for the info). A sample of the first issue published can be seen here: summer issue 2006.

The Journal presents 'itself' as "A serious, rigorously peer-reviewed scholarly journal, Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft draws from a broad spectrum of perspectives, methods, and disciplines, offering the widest possible geographical scope and chronological range, from prehistory to the modern era and from the Old World to the New. In addition to original research, the journal includes book reviews, editorials, and lists of newly published work."

This subject might be considered some way off Philonic studies; but not so, at least not to me, as I have written an article on Philo and Magic, published last summer too.

Education in Ancient Egypt

Following a link in What is new in Abzu, I discovered an interesting website about
Education in Ancient Egypt, A K-12 Resource of the University of Michigan Papyrus Collection.

The site contains the followning subpages; Background, Curriculum, The Schoolhouse, Teachers & Students, Apprenticeships, Artifacts, The Gymnasium. Its a k-12 source, but it might nevertheless be informative for other students too.

Yet another interesting educational page-set on the same main site is this one on
Writing in Greco-Roman Egypt.

Bibliography on children

I discovered in another blog, a reference to a very comprehensive bibliography, available on the Web, on Children in Ancient World. A Bibliograaphy, made by Ville Vuolanto, University of Tampere, Finland,
3rd February 2006 (Fifth revised version), containing as much as 981 entries.

The bibliography does not contain any references to works on Philo; I might nevertheless (or just because of the lack), at least refer to an article by Adele Reinhartz located on my website: Adele Reinhartz, 'Philo’s Exposition of the Law and Social History: Methodological Considerations.'First printed in Eugene H. Lovering Jr. (ed.), SBL Annual Meeting 1993 Seminar Papers (Scholars Press, Atlanta, Georgia, 1993), pp. 6-21. Here scanned and made accessible as a .pdf file.
Another item lacking in the bibliography mentioned above, is a work of one of may own collegues here at The School of Mission & Theology, namely Odd Magne Bakke, When Children Became People. The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 2005). 348pp.

Studia Philonica Annual 18 2006

Studia Philonica Annual XVIII
David T. Runia, Gregory E. Sterling, Hindy Najman
ISBN 1589832531
Price: $39.95
Binding Cloth

You who are lucky enough to get to the SBL Annual Meeting will probably have a chance to buy it; I hope to get hold of it in January.

Surviving?

Mark Goodacre has some relevant comments on an issue raised by an other blogger on Surviving SBL, that is, on how to survive during the conference. I know the problems very well, not at least how to survive all the temptations of buying too many books,and the problems of too many sessions to attend in too little time.

But this year I have no problems surviving at the SBL, but how to survive without attending the SBL. I am getting more and more in a condition of having abstinence symptoms. Have I been addicted to this annual event? I have to stay at home, for several reasons, being jealous of those attending.

However, I have strong hopes of being able to attend the meeting in San Diego next year! That's my carrot for the time being. :)

Two reviews

On the SBL Bookreviews site two reviews were published yesterday that is of relevance for students of Philo and diaspora Judaism:

James R. Davila
The Provenance of the Pseudepigrapha: Jewish, Christian, or Other?
Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 105
Leiden: Brill, 2005. pp. vi + 278. $142.00
Reviewed by Sabrina Inowlocki

Logos Bible Software
The Works of Philo: Greek Text with Morphology. Bellingham, Wash.: Logos Bible Software, 2005. CD-ROM.

RGG

Most biblical scholars will know what the three abovementioned letters RGG stand for; the great German multivolume lexicon Religion im Geschichte und Gegenwart. Handwörterbuch für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft.

Some 'belated' news about this lexicon:
1) Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft now offers a CD version of the 3rd edition of this lexicon for the very acceptable price of 99 Euro. The price is, as usual, for members of the WBG, but membership is cheap, and the WBG has lots of books of interest to scholars and other students of the Bible and Judaism.

2) The 4th edition of this Lexicon is out, and has its own webpage; you can have a look at it here.

3) An English 10 volume translation of this large 4th edition is now also in the process of being published by Brill as Religion Past and Present. Encyclopedia of Theology and Religion. Further information about this edition can be found here.

New book and new series on Peter Lang

Peter Lang publishers has just established a new series, interesting for students of Philo: Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity (ECCA). The editors of the series are from Germany - Ulrich Jörg, USA - David Brakke and the Danish scholar Anders-Christian Jacobsen.

The first volume of the series is a result of a conference in Aarhus in January (2005). The volume is called Beyond Reception. Mutual Influences between Antique Religion, Judaism, and Early Christianity.

I participated myself at the conference, so that is also why I might seem a little eager to tell about it. I have been reporting from the conference earlier and explained my ideas in my own article: I am arguing in favor of prof. Roald Skarsten's thesis that De Aeterniate Mundi cannot be Philonic. In one way my title is misleading, since I mention Philo's Aet. One should perhaps write "Aet. - often claimed to belong to Philo", but that is too long for a metonymic title. Here are all the titles:




Contents: David Brakke/Jörg Ulrich/Anders-Christian Jacobsen: Introduction to Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity (ECCA) - David Brakke/Jörg Ulrich/Anders-Christian Jacobsen: Preface to Beyond Reception (ECCA 1) - Christoph Markschies: Antiquity and Christianity or: The Unavoidability of False Problems - Maren R. Niehoff: Philo's Contribution to Contemporary Alexandrian Metaphysics - Kåre Fuglseth: The Reception of Aristotelian Features in Philo and the Authorship Problem of Philo's De Aeternitate Mundi - Troels Engberg-Pedersen: Paul's Necessity: A Bourdieuesque Reading of the Pauline Project - Niels Willert: The Reception of Biblical and Greco-Roman Ethics in the Apologetics of the Early Church - Martin Vahrenhorst: Greek Religious and Cultic Terminology in the LXX Pentateuch - Einar Thomassen: The Reception of Greco-Roman Religious and Cultic Terminology in Judaism and Christianity, with Special Reference to Sacrificial Terminology - Gary B. Ferngren: The Early Christian Reception of Greek Medicine - David Brakke: Origins and Authenticity: Studying the Reception of Greek and Roman Spiritual Traditions in Early Christian Monasticism - Samuel Rubenson: Antony and Pythagoras: A Reappraisal of the Appropriation of Classical Biography in Athanasius' Vita Antonii - Aage Pilgaard: The Classical Biography as Model for the Gospels - Marie Verdoner: Cultural Negotiations in the Psychomachia of Prudentius.

Rambi!

At the SBL international meeting last summer I met one of the scholars that are working with Rambi, a bibliographic index of articles on Jewish studies. I promised him to take a closer look. I see that it was mentioned by Torrey in April, 2005, but I haven't had time to use it before now. This autumn I have been struggling with a lot of teaching affairs on subjects far away from Philo or Biblical studies, and haven't had time to do any research (alas), not to mention help Torrey to blog. Now things are more calm, so here you are:

Rambi is a very promising project, we realy need topic-based lists like this. Nothing can be compared to such databases if they become more or less complete.

A little bit confusing perhaps to know where to start, but you have to click on the "Rambi web" to find the search window, it will take you to the the main research window.

A search on "Philo of Alexandria" returns 584 posts. A more limited search on a specific topic or name is also possible, t.d. a search on "Torrey Seland" gave me 7 posts :-)

Philo at SBL Annual Meeting IV

S20-75

---

Philo of Alexandria
11/20/2006
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 305 - CC

Theme: Philo's Legum Allegoriae

Gregory Sterling, University of Notre Dame, Presiding
Thomas H. Tobin, S.J., Loyola University of Chicago
Philo's Legum Allegoriae I–III: The Thread of the Argument (40 min)
Annewies van den Hoek, Harvard University, Respondent (20 min)
Steven Di Mattei, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
Moses Allegorizes phusikôs: Reevaluating the Notion of Physical Allegory in Philo of Alexandria's Legum allegoriae (30 min)
General discussion
Business meeting
Editorial Board meeting for Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series

This session has been organized in collaboration with the Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series published by Brill and SBL Publications. Papers will not be pre-circulated.

Two more reviews of books

A couple of fine new reviews are offered at the SBL Book review site at www. bookreviews.org: the adresses are given below:

Steven Fine
Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World: Toward a New Jewish Archaeology
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5001
Reviewed by Hayim Lapin

Ruth Langer and Steven Fine, eds.
Liturgy in the Life of the Synagogue: Studies in the History of Jewish Prayer
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5070
Reviewed by Gregory Glazov
Reviewed by Viktor Petrovich Roudkovski

Philo on Magic

This week I received the Festschrift published this summer in honor of David E. Aune; hence I am now able to provide the excact reference to my own contribution in this volume:'Philo, Magic and Balaam. Neglected Aspects of Philo's Exposition of the Balaam Story,' in John Fotopoulos (ed.), The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context. Studies in Honor of David E. Aune (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 122; Leiden, Brill, 2006), pp. 333-346.
My summarizing conclusions of this article are:

"Given Philo’s high view of prophecy, it comes to no surprise to discover his great focus on the issue of magical divination. One the one hand, genuine prophecy is to Philo due to "the divine spirit which plays upon the vocal organism and dictates words, which clearly express its prophetic message"; no pronouncement of a prophet is ever his own, "he is an interpreter prompted by another in all his utterances" (Spec. 4,49; cf. 1,65). On the other hand, magical divination is mere fantasies of human beings, it is 'guessing', 'surmises and conjectures' (Spec. 1,61; 4,50).

The social life of Alexandria probably surfaces when Philo cautions and says: "Moses demands that one who is registered in the commonwealth of the laws ­should be perfect not in the lore, in which many are schooled, of divination and voices and plausible conjectures, but in his duties towards God . . ." (Spec. 1,63; cf. 1,319). He seems to have been well acquainted with various forms of magical divination, as both divination by dreams (oneiromanteia), watching the flight and behavior of birds (ornitomancy), watching sacrifical animals, and various other omens are mentioned by him. I have argued elsewhere that his exposition of Deutr 13 in Spec. 1,315-318 should be read as an actualization of this very law, possibly triggered by local experiences in Alexandria. Apostasy was an option, and ‘seduction’ one of the means. Hence magical divination was no ‘adiaphoron’ to Philo; on the contrary, it could lead to impiety.

I suggest that his struggles with the figure of Balaam, resulting in his emphasizing of his magic only vaguely presented in the Pentateuch, should also be understood as part of Philo’s struggle against magical divination of his own times.
When reading the works of Philo, there should be no doubt that he considered magic as incompatible with ‘true religion’, i.e. his Judaism: it paved the way for impiety (Spec. 1,61).

Whether he considered it an inherent part of the other ‘religions’ of his Alexandrian social world is probable, but hard to say as he provides no direct statements in this regard. To him, magical divination is a transgression of both the first and the ninth commandment of the Decalogue (Spec. 1,59-63; 4,48), and as such a "corruption of art, a counterfeit of the divine and prophetic possession" (Spec. 4,48). Hence when it comes to his own form of religion, magic is forbidden in the Torah; i.e., in the constitution of his Judaism. To those wanting to be Torah-observing Jews, magic should be no option. Accordingly, his expositions can be read as demonstrating that magic was not only a feature of the opponents of Moses in Egypt and of the non-Jewish Balaam, but also of the non-Jewish surroundings of the Jews in Alexandria. Whether it in reality also was a part of the daily life in the Jewish sectors of the Alexandria of his time, is quite another question. But in light of our other sources of magical activities in Jewish circles, and Philo’s stern warnings against magic in so many of his writings, we might suggest that it was a feature more known to his readers than he ever liked."

Constructions of Masculinity

Thanks to Holger Szesnat, I am able to present a link to a recent dissertation that also contains a chapter on Philo's work De Josepho: Jessica Lyn Tinklenberg De Vega,
"A Man who Fears God," Constructions of Masculinity in Hellenistic Jewish Interpretations of the Story of Joseph.
(A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy; Florida University, 2006).
The dissertation is available in .pdf format here.

The author's own summary of her work runs like this:Hellenistic Jewish interpreters of the Bible often restructured and modified biblical texts in an effort to further their own ideological perspectives. Among the many adaptations they made, these exegetes often sought to transform the familiar stories to better fit or express their own constructs of gender identity. This study attempts to uncover the ideologies of masculinity in three first-century Hellenistic Jewish texts: The Jewish Antiquities of Josephus, Philo’s De Somniis, and the anonymous Joseph and Aseneth. The texts were studied by means of a close reading for the rhetorical structures of each author, particularly noting the ways terminology and literary structures describing maleness are held in opposition to femaleness, and assuming that gender was a culturally constructed (rather than innate or essential) category. In the course of the study, a variety of constructions are confirmed: masculinity as dominance over the self (Josephus), as sexual propriety and non-violence (Joseph and Aseneth), and as avoidance of eunuchism, feminine company, and violating establish hierarchies (Philo). As these three exegetes represent only a small number of those writing at the time, this variety suggests that there may be many more constructions of maleness present in Hellenistic Jewish literature of the era.

Philo at SBL Annual Meeting (III)

We continue our third presentation of the sessions at this years SBL Annual Meeting in which lectures or papers focus on Philo of Alexandria.

This time we point to
S19-72Philo of Alexandria
Joint Session With: Philo of Alexandria, History and Literature of Early Rabbinic Judaism
11/19/2006 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: 140A - CC

Theme: Reception of Philo of Alexandria in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity: The Question Revisited

Hindy Najman, University of Toronto, Presiding

James L. Kugel, Bar Ilan University
Philo and the Problem of the Book of Genesis (30 min)
Abstract: "The very existence of the book of genesis posed a problem for Jews of the late second temp period: unlike the other 4 books of the Pentateuch, it had no laws or halakhic instruction per se. What was it there for? Along with the authors of Jubilees and other biblical pseudepigrapha, Philo of Alexandria wrestled with this question."

Maren Niehoff, Hebrew University
Philo and Genesis Rabbah: Similar Questions and Answers (30 min)
Abstract: "A comparison between Philo's "Questions and Answers on Genesis" and Genesis Rabbah against the background of the genre of "Questions and Answers" in Homeric Scholarship. I shall discuss whether the exegetes in Genesis Rabbah raised the same or other questions and whether they may have been familiar with the genre as it appears in Philo's work."


Daniel Boyarin, University of California-Berkeley
From Greek thought to Jewish and Christian Scriptural Allegory (30 min)
Abstract:"In this paper, I propose to work out in a general way some new thinking about continuity, rather than rupture, in the history of allegoresis, in particular I wish to locate allegorical thinking in some persistent themes of Greek thought of various types and argue then that it is not as foreign to rabbinic interpretation as once I would have claimed."


Judith H. Newman, University of Toronto
The Composition of Prayers and Songs in Philo's De Vita Contemplativa (30 min)
Discussion (30 min)
Abstract: "In contrast to Greek pagan prayer and in spite of its infinite variety, early Jewish prayers are marked by their interpretive engagement with Torah. How can we account for this production of scripturalized prayers? This paper compares the "philosophy" practiced by the Therapeutae at Mareotis with the nature and function of prayers at Qumran to argue that all such utterances were offered as manifestations of internalized torah, conceived through the prophetic gift of divine spirit."

Philo at SBL Annual Meeting (II)

We continue our presentation of sessions that focus on Philo of Alexandria at this year's SBL Annual Meeting in Washington:

S20-18Hebrews
11/20/2006 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 140A - CC

Theme: Emerging Studies in the Book of Hebrews
Kevin B. McCruden, Gonzaga University
High Priestly Patronage and Philanthropia in the Epistle to the Hebrews
(30 min) Discussion (15 min)
Abstract: "Integral to Hebrews' highly sacrificial portrait of the Christ event is a profound emphasis on the beneficent aspect of Christ's high priestly status. Hebrews depicts Christ as a "merciful and faithful high priest," (Heb 2:17) who actively "sympathizes" with the "weaknesses" of the faithful (Heb 4:15). This paper explores the exegetical connections to be made between such beneficent christology and the ideas surrounding the virtue of philanthropia as a both a royal and divine attribute in the roman imperial period. Particular attention will be paid to the following areas: the prominent place given to the virtue of philanthropia in relation to the Roman Caesars; the ancient testimonies concerning the beneficent activity of the god Asclepius; and lastly, Philo of Alexandria’s encomium on philanthropia in the De virtutibus. This paper will argue that ancient reflection on the virtue of philanthropia in both Greco-Roman and Jewish sources offers a new and fruitful vantage point from which to appreciate the highly beneficent dimension of Hebrews’ priestly christology. In essence, Hebrews depicts the exalted Christ as the divine patron Son, who in consequence of death is now presently and beneficently available to a beleaguered community likely residing in Rome."

Juden und Nichtjuden in Alexandrien

This volume is now available form the bookstores. It can also be ordered directly from the publisher:Gottfried Schimanowski
Juden und Nichtjuden in Alexandrien.
Koexistenz und Konflikte bis zum Pogrom unter Trajan (117 n. Chr.)
Reihe: Münsteraner Judaistische Studien
Bd. 18, LiT Verlag, 2006, 288 S., 34.90 EUR, br., ISBN 3-8258-8507-0. The announcement of the publisher runs thus:
"Dies ist die erste deutschsprachige Monographie über das alexandrinische Judentum, jenen Sitz "multikultureller" Aktivität und Gelehrsamkeit, dem die westliche Kultur bis heute so entscheidende Anstöße verdankt. Vom ersten Auftreten kurz nach der Gründung der Stadt (323 v.Chr.) an wird seine Geschichte verfolgt bis hin zum Untergang in einem förmlichen Bürgerkrieg 115 - 117 n.Chr.

Wieso ist es dieser weltoffenen, von ihrer Verfassung her griechischen Stadt nicht gelungen, ihre jüdischen Mitbewohner besser zu integrieren? - Die Konkurrenz um die Privilegien der "Griechen" der Stadt hat den Juden Feindschaft eingetragen, sowohl bei diesen selbst (als den einzigen vollberechtigten Bürgern) als auch bei den Ägyptern. Dagegen half auch keine Anlehnung an die - keineswegs beliebte - auswärtige Macht Rom, im Gegenteil.

Zur Illustration der singulären, durchaus verworrenen Rechtslage dient ein griechisch-deutscher Quellenanhang; er bietet die einschlägigen Inschriften und Papyri."

A German translation of Questiones

The Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum is involved in a very interesting project of translating for the first time into German the Armenian texts of Philos works Questiones in Genesim and Questiones in Exodum:Mit Unterstützung der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft ist am Institutum Judaicum Delitzschianum in Münster eine befristete Arbeitsstelle eingerichtet worden zur erstmaligen deutschen Übersetzung der nur armenisch überlieferten Schriften Philons von Alexandrien Quaestiones in Genesim und Quaestiones in Exodum. Diese Übersetzung erfolgt direkt am armenischen Text, unter Berücksichtigung der dort noch spürbaren griechischen Idiomatik. Some preliminary translations have already been published, and more texts will be added here. The director of the project is Professor Folker Siegert.

More reviews

A couple of reviews relevant to students of Philo and the Judaism of his time have been published on the SBL Book Reviews website:Weinfeld, Moshe,
Normative and Sectarian Judaism in the Second Temple Period. Library of Second Temple Studies, 54; London: T&T Clark, 2005, pp. xii + 329
Review by Pieter W. van Der Horst.

George W. E. Nickelsburg,
Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah
Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005. pp. xxiii + 445 + CD-ROM. 2nd Edition. Paperback.
Reviewed by Kenneth Pomykala
Reviewed by Sabrina Inowlocki.

In memory of David M. Hay

From David Runia and Gregory Sterling to the other members of the SBL Philo of Alexandria Group I have received these words in honor of David M. Hay:

It is with the deepest regret that we announce the sudden passing of David Hay, the chairperson of the Studia Philonica Annual editorial board and the general editor of the Studia Philonica Monograph Series. David died unexpectedly in his home on Friday morning, August 25th. A blood clot appears to have entered his lungs. There will be a burial service for him on Tuesday, August 29th, in McDonough, Georgia, and a memorial service that afternoon in Atlanta. A later memorial service will be held at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where David taught for thirty years.

We will miss David for both professional and personal reasons. David was a fine scholar who made significant contributions to the study of Philo. He was a founding member of the Philo Institute, a contributor to the Studia Philonica, the chairperson of the SNTS seminar on Philo, and a key figure in the launching and success of the Studia Philionica Annual and the monograph series. He was, however, more than a productive scholar; he was a friend. Those of us who were privileged to work with him knew him as a generous and sensitive human being. The last time that the SBL met in Atlanta, many of the members of the Philo of Alexandria Group went to David and Mary's home for dinner. It was a memorable evening.

The last scholarly contribution that David made was to proofread the 2006 Studia Philonica Annual, a task that he had executed faithfully for many years. He was not able to complete his commentary on The Contemplative Life. The treatise was near to his heart. We should remember the final words: "This will suffice for the Therapeutae who welcomed the contemplation of nature and what it contains and who lived their lives in the soul alone, citizens of both heaven and earth. They were sincerely commended to the Father and Maker of the cosmos by virtue who introduced them to God's friendship and added the most appropriate gift of true goodness, a gift better than all good fortune, a gift that reaches to the very summit of full happiness." We are confident that virtue has commended David as well.

We will miss him immensely.

We extend our deepest sympathy to Mary, the children, and the grandchildren.

David T. Runia
Gregory E. Sterling

David M. Hay 1935-2006

The message from David T Runia, quoted below in my former posting, made me very sad. Though I knew David Hay personally only in the last 4-5 years, he was a very pleasant acquaintance. When the SBL Annual Meeting was held in Atlanta a few years ago, I had the pleasure of being invited - together with several other Philo scholars - into his new home. And last November, at the end of the SBL Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, due to a suggestion by David, Jutta Leonhardt-Balzer and I had a very enjoyable lunsj with David. That was how he was, always friendly and such a kind person. I will really miss him.

In 2001 David M Hay was honored by the dedication of Studia Philonica Annual Vol XIII 2001. It's title was In the Spirit of Faith: Studies in Philo and Early Christianity in Honor of David Hay (Brown Judaic Studies 332.

David was a pauline scholar, but also a Philo scholar. For some years now he had been working on a commentary on De Vita Contemplativa. I don't know how far that work had proceeded; but I do hope that at least some of it can be published so we can be made sharers in more of his great knowledge of this work of Philo.

But above all, he will be missed as a husband and father. Let us include his family in our thoughts and prayers.

Very sad news

I just received an e-mail from David Runia that I would like to post here too:I am sorry to have to convey very sad news. On Friday August 25th our
dear friend David Hay was very suddenly wrenched away from his loved
ones and from us. A lung embolism proved fatal. It is only a very
small comfort that he died at home and most likely did not suffer at
all.
The funeral will be held at the Central Presbyterian Church in
Atlanta at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 29.
We had only just had extensive contact in preparing volume 18 of the
Studia Philonica Annual. David had written us a letter on Thursday,
telling us how much he was looking forward to a family reunion this
weekend. It is a devastating loss, above all for his family, but also
for all his friends and colleagues.

Philo at SBL Annual Meeting (I)

Some people are already trying to get information about the SBL Annual Meeting that this year is to be held in Washington; such information is now available at the SBL homepages, but here is some info about one of the sessions that includes papers on Philo, namely the session on

S19-13Hellenistic Moral Philosophy and Early Christianity
Nov 19. 2006 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM Room: 150B - CC

Theme: Philosophy at the Roots of Christianity

L. Michael White, University of Texas - Austin, Presiding
Part 1: Allegory in Philo and the New Testament
Henrik Tronier, Copenhagen University
Philonic Allegory in Mark (20 min)
On a superficial view the earliest and supposedly most primitive of the four Gospels seems to constitute a strong argument against finding philosophy at the roots of Christianity. However, when Mark is read in the context of contemporary Jewish allegorical hermeneutics another impression surfaces. In this paper it is argued that Mark’s biography of Jesus was written the way Philo interpreted the biblical narratives about the lives and journeys of Abraham and Moses, the founders of the Jewish people. They are stamped images of God’s logos and sophia in history; their journeys are the outward appearance of the interpretive activity of logos-transformed, perfected knowledge, which the allegorical reader will recognise as the defining mark and nature of God’s elected people; the various locations, people and persons along the journey constitute deficient or lower levels of knowledge and ethics in the unified epistemological, cosmological and anthropological framework that is plotted in the geo-, ethno- and topographical space of the narrative. The various literary strategies by which Mark construes the allegorical level of meaning and guides the readers to an allegorical interpretation of the surface story are analysed in the light of Philo’s interpretive strategies. Finally, the paper discusses the different ethnic strategies involved in the allegorical hermeneutics of Philo and Mark. Here it is argued that Mark’s aim is in line with Paul’s allegorical interpretation of Jewish identity markers. At crucial points Mark’s biography of Jesus is an allegorical inscription of Pauline concepts, including his cosmologically framed idea of Christ as God’s wisdom, into the scattered historical traditions about Jesus.


Stefan Nordgaard Svendsen, University of Copenhagen
Philonic Allegory in Hebrews (20 min)
For decades, biblical scholarship has been divided over the question whether or not the author of Hebrews was intellectually influenced by Philo of Alexandria. According to some interpreters, the author was entirely unfamiliar with Philo's work whereas others claim that he must have belonged to the circle around the Alexandrian at some point of his life. In spite of this disagreement, however, practically all scholars agree that he was not influenced by Philo's hermeneutics. Philo, it is argued, read The Old Testament allegorically whereas Hebrews applied typology. The paper challenges this consensus by arguing that the hermeneutics of Hebrews are in fact allegorical and deeply influenced by the Alexandrian philosopher. In the first part of the paper it is argued that the author adopted a number of Philo's allegorical readings (those of the Promised Land, the tabernacle and the Jewish high priest) and developed his argument around them. However, since he operated within an apocalyptically inspired outlook on the world, which differs significantly from Philo's Platonic metaphysics, the allegorical method is transformed in important ways by the author. These changes are identified and explained. In the latter part, it is discussed how the insights into the author's hermeneutics may help us understand the letter's rhetorical aim. It is argued that the author used the allegorical method principally as a means to expose the worthlessness of the Jewish religious institutions in order to dissuade the the recipients from supplementing their Christian faith with observance of the Torah.

Margaret M. Mitchell, University of Chicago, will be the respondent to these papers(15 min).Then there will be an 18 min discussion.

These two Danish scholars, both from the University of Copenhagen, are involved in a Philo related research project called "Philosophy at the Roots of Christianity."
On this project, see my posting below.

Philosophy at the Roots of Christianity

The two Danish scholars, mentioned above as presenting papers on Philo at the SBL Annual Meeting this year, both from the University of Copenhagen, are involved in a Philo related research project called "Philosophy at the Roots of Christianity."
TThe main purpose of this project is to test in what degree it is possible to say that there in fact was a philosophical consciousness mirrored in the oldest writings of Early Christianity, that is the New Testament.

The project is divided into several subsections:
# Philosophy behind the Gospel of Mark
# Philosophy behind allegorical interpretations in the NT
# Philosophy behind the cosmological conceptions of Paul
# Philosophy behind the theo-logical and Christ-ological conceptions of the New Testament
# Philosophy and the Gospel of John

A couple of working papers from scholars involved in this project are available on the internet on one of the pages associated with this page (click on 'Bidrag'):
Troels Engberg-Pedersen: Philosophy of the Self in the Apostle Paul
Henrik Tronier: Rum og krop som tankeform i antik hermeneutik og urkristendommens Kristusfigur.

Their webpages also reveals that Henrik Tronier has a major study forthcoming; its title is given as
Henrik Tronier, Paul in Space. Towards a Spatial Demythologising of Philo, Apocalypses, and Paul (ca. 500 pp., forthcoming).

Ratio Religionis: a new research prosject

An interesting new research project has beeen launched in Germany. Its director is Dr. Rainer Hirsch-Luipold, presently at the Theologische Fakultät, Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen.

The title and focus of this project is
Ratio religionis:
Religiöse Philosophie und philosophische Religion in der frühen Kaiserzeit

Noting that "In der frühen römischen Kaiserzeit kommt es zu einer Neuorientierung innerhalb der (platonischen) Philosophie: nach einer Phase der akademischen Skepsis findet die Philosophie die Quelle ihrer Wahrheit neben den Schriften Platons, die neu gelesen werden, wesentlich in Traditionen der überlieferten, gelebten Religion. Diese werden durch eine bildhaft-allegorische Interpretation philosophisch gedeutet und für die Fragen der Zeit fruchtbar gemacht."
Proceeding from these observations, the research project has as its important comparative and thematic foci "Literaturgeschichtlicher Hintergrund, Entstehungsbedingungen: Alexandria, Kosmologie, Kosmogonie, Schöpfung, and Gottesbild: Einheit und Personalität", and its main focus will be on works of Philo of Alexandria, The Gospel of John and Clemen of Alexandria, and Plutarch.

For further information about this work, see Project Ratio Religionis.

Der eine Gott

Reading the webpage of the director of the abovementioned research prosject Ratio Religionis, I noticed an article about Philo and Plutarch I had not noted before. It might be relevant for some of you:
Der eine Gott bei Philon von Alexandrien und Plutarch,
in: Rainer Hirsch-Luipold (Hrsg.), Gott und die Götter bei Plutarch. Götterbilder – Gottesbilder – Weltbilder (Tagungsband des internationalen Symposiums des Göttinger Graduiertenkollegs "Polytheismus und Monotheismus in der Welt der Antike" und der Internationalen Plutarchgesellschaft vom 2.-4. Februar 2005), RGVV 54, Berlin/ New York 2005.

Roman Collegia again

I never give up on my interest for the Greaeco-Roman clubs and associations. Here is a new volume, to be published by Brill these days, which intends to present an analysis of the research of the Roman collegia:

Jonathan Scott Perry
The Roman Collegia. The Modern Evolution of an Ancient Concept
Mnemosyne, Supplements ; History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity, 277
Brill, 2006 (available); xii, 248 pp.

The publisher presents the volume thus:
" This volume maintains that contemporary events, ideologies, and institutions have shaped scholarly work on the ancient Roman collegia, a group of institutions known principally from epigraphic and legal sources. It traces the origins of thinking on the subject from the creation of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum through the political and social movements of the 19th and 20th centuries in Western Europe. The bulk of the book focuses particularly on the intersection of scholarship and economic theory in Fascist Italy, as the collegia were analysed by the Istituto di Studi Romani, incorporated into the Mostra Augustea della Romanità, and ultimately championed by the Minister of National Education, Giuseppe Bottai, in 1939."

Collegia in Roman Egypt

Reading up on some blogs I have overlooked or forgotten I stumbled over this again by Philip Harland: “Alive and kicking”: Associations and Roman law again. Here he, inter alia, refers to an article about the collegia in Roman Egypt I was not at all aware of, namely

Ilias N. Arnaoutoglou, “Collegia in the Province of Egypt in the First Century CE,” Ancient Society 35 (2005): 197-216.

Arnaoutoglou here obviously also deals with some of Philo's statements abaout these clubs and associations.
Harland offers some further comments, and also refers to my online article on 'Philo and the Graeco-Roman Clubs and asociations'.

The article by Arnaoutoglou is not available online, but if you click on the link above to Ancient Society, you can order it.
The author's own summary of the article runs like this:

"ln this article I explore the apparent discrepancy between the restrictive statutory Roman legislation on collegia and the documentation on associations in 1st-century Egypt. After exploration of the legal background, I examine the testimony of Philo, ln Flaccum 4, which reveals that the dissolution of hetaireiai and synodoi is not part of an empire-wide ban, but is firmly embedded in the history of Alexandria and in the urge of its prefect A. Flaccus to re-establish law and order. The second testimony providing the imposition of a fine on people taking part in associations, Gnomon of the ldios Logos §108, is so fragmentary as to allow only speculation about its context. It could preserve a clause either from A. Flaccus’ restrictions or from a tax regulation. The investigation suggests that the discrepancy between the literary tradition of a general ban and the documentary evidence on collegia is probably superficial, and it can be reconciled, if we reconsider the nature and the extent of the prohibition imposed by A. Flaccus, as a local and temporary police measure aiming to dissolve the nuclei of opposition and anti-Roman feeling in early 1st-century Alexandria."

Books bought at SNTS

Conferences like the SNTS Meeting and the SBL Annual Meetings are events were booksellers and book buyers are having good times. The book exhibition at SBL is outstanding; the Book marked of SNTS is much smaller as the conference is smaller too. Neverthless, there where several publishers present with their booths and offerings, and like most others, I succumbed to the temptation, and spent some money on books.

One in particular I think should be considered relevant to Philo scholars too, namely

F. Watson,
Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith
London: T & T Clark International, 2004).
There is a lot on Philo here too, and I hope to be able to return to this book on this blog.

Among the other books I bought, these might be mentioned:

M. Hengel,
Der Unterschätzte Petrus. Zwei Studien (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006).
A. Perriman,
The Coming of the Son of Man. New Testament Eschatology for an Emerging Church (Milton Keynes, UK: Peternoster Press, 2005).
J. Starr and Troels Engberg-Pedersen eds.,
Early Christian Paraenesis in Context. (Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 125; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2005).
T. H. Tobin,
Paul’s Rhetoric in Its Contexts. The Argument of Romans (Peabody, Ma: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004).

Philo articles online

Visiting Hindy Najman's website, I discovered that she is planning to have several articles available on-line; among these are three directly relevant for Philo studies already available. The articles are available both in web-format and in pdf format; Here are the links to the .pdf versions of the Philo articles. THanks to Hindy for making them available on-line:

1.
“The Law of Nature and the Authority of Mosaic Law.”
In Studia Philonica Annual 11 (1999): 55-73

Download as a pdf (LawOfNature.pdf)

2.
“A Written Copy of the Law of Nature: An Unthinkable Paradox?”
In Studia Philonica Annual 15 (2003) 51-6

Download as a pdf (CopyLawOfNature.pdf)

3.
“Cain and Abel as Character Traits: A Study in the Allegorical Typology of Philo of Alexandria.”
In Themes in Biblical Narrative; Jewish and Christian Traditions, edited by Gerard Luttikhuizen, Brill, 2003:107-118

Download as a pdf (CainAndAbel.pdf)

Festschrift to David E. Aune

I'm back from vacation, and back from the SNTS Meeting in Aberdeen. It was warm and busy days from early morning to late night. Good to have my wife attend the meeting this year; she enjoyed the excursions while we were listening to lectures and participating in seminar discussions. The SNTS Meetings are known to have good excursions for the spouses attending, and for the dinners for all participants in the evenings.






One of the events at the meeting I was looking forward to was the presentation of a Festschrift to David E. Aune. John Fotopoulos was the editor, and here is a picture of David and his wife Mary Lou:
I do think the festschrift was a very deserved honor to an excellent scholar.

I also had the privilege of contributing to the volume, and is responsible for the one and only contribution directly related to Philo studies. My study is called "Philo, Magic and Balaam: Neglected Aspects of Philo's Exposition of the Balaam story."

Further information of the volume can be gathered here:

The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context
Studies in Honor of David E. Aune
Edited by John Fotopoulos
Novum Testamentum, Supplements, 122
Brill Publishing, 2006. 468 pp.

SNTS

I am off to the 61st Meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas in Aberdeen.

Some Reviews

SBL Bookreviews has posted some recent reviews of works that should be of interest to Philo scholars, even though it is summer and vacation times...:

Böhm, Martina, Rezeption und Funktion der Vätererzählungen bei Philo von Alexandria: Zum Zusammenhang von Kontext, Hermeneutik und Exegese im frühen Judentum.
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche, 128. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2005. pp. xiii + 502. €128.00

van der Horst, Pieter W.,
Philo's Flaccus: The First Pogrom: Introduction, Translation and Commentary
Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, 2
Átlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005
pp. xii + 277. $29.95

Review by René Bloch.
and
Review by Gerbern Oegema.

SBL International Meeting 2

After the Accordance presentation in Edinburgh, I happened to meet and have a lunch with Katell Berthelot, a young French scholar who has written on Second Temple Judaism. Katell received her Ph.D. in 2001 in History of Religions, Sorbonne University (Paris). She is researcher at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research, France) and has two major contributions published on Brill, in addition to several articles:

1. Philanthropia Judaica: Le debat autour de la «Misanthropie» Des Lois Juives Dans L'Antiquité (The debate concerning Misanthropie in the Jewish Laws in Antiquity).
   
2. L’«humanite de l'autre homme» dans la pensée juive ancienne (Humanity towards other human beings in the ancient Jewish thinking).
   

Brill says about the books:

Philanthropia Judaica: Le debat autour de la «Misanthropie» Des Lois Juives Dans L'Antiquité. Brill: Leiden, 2003. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 76.

This volume deals with the accusations of misanthropy directed against the Jews during the Hellenistic and Roman period, and with the Jewish attempts to answer those charges. The first part of the book examines the different meanings of the words philanthropia, misanthropia, apanthropia, philoxenia and misoxenia, and analyses the relevant Greek, Egyptian and Roman sources, in order to clarify the significance of the accusation of misanthropy for each writer.

The second part deals with the Jewish answers to these accusations, especially with Philo's and Josephus' attempts to show the humane character of the Mosaic Law.

This book is the first attempt to write a comprehensive history of this type of anti-Jewish discourse in Antiquity and of the Jewish reactions it provoked.

L’«humanite de l'autre homme» dans la pensée juive anciennes. Supplements to the Journal for the study of Judaism; 87. Leiden: Brill, 2004.

This book analyzes how humanism was conceived of in different philosophical schools during the Hellenistic and early Roman period, and how these ideas were debated in ancient Jewish thought. The term humanism refers to the idea that every person has duties towards his/her fellow human beings, for the sole reason that they all share a common nature or are bound by a form of kinship.

The book also tries to determine to which extent Gen 1:26-27 (creation of human beings in God's image) and Lev 19:18 (the commandment to love one's neighbour, who is like oneself) could be interpreted in a humanistic way by ancient Jewish writers.

Katell also told me that Sabrina Inowlocki is organising a Philo conference in Belgium next summer, but she did not know any details. Perhaps others do?

SBL International Meeting

2006 took place in Edinburgh as you may have noticed and as Torrey wrote earlier. Actually, I am still in Scotland, taking some days off after the conference. This was my first time on a SBL-conference, which is perhaps a little strange, but there have always been a lot of other conferences to go to. The funny thing about this conference was that although 500 persons were registered partakers, I only saw about 40 or 50 at a time. The reason is perhaps that the meetings were scattered around a little bit and one did get the feeling of being at a large conference.

Besides, there was no Philo section or anything and couldn't find Philo in any of the Abstracts in the program either (perhaps I missed it). My own contribution was more in the methodological field, I am trying out theories based on Gadamer's hermeneutical circle in relation to a contextual theological model. I hope it can be an article at the end...

I did get to talk to Roy and Helen Brown of Accordance, who demonstrated their latest version (v. 7) of the program, Philo in Greek and English included. Several new features here, particularly in the presentational part (diagrams etc.). That program can really help Philo scholars. I also talk the representative of Gorgias Press, but unfortunately he had not received the Complete KWIC-concordance from the publisher (I guess it is just to big and heavy to be delt with properly).

Vacation time!

Today I am taking 4 weeks off work and blogging.

The first three weeks will be spent at my cabin, relaxing and hopefully have some golfing at the main golf course of that area. Then my wife and I will go to Aberdeen to attend the Society of New Testament Studies 2006 General Meeting July 25-29.

The weather is wonderful today, and I hope it will remain, as we have had a rather cold spring time.

All the best to all of you; see you in August!

Conferences in July

July is the time for two great conferences for scholars in Biblical studies: the International Meeting of SBL, and the SNTS General Meeting. I will only be able to attend the latter, while my co-blogger Kåre will go to the SBL meeting
.
I July 2-6, the SBL 2006 International Meeting will be held in Edinburgh. As usual this conference will provide aa lot of lectures and seminars, covering both testaments. The program is available online here. As far as I can see, there will only be one paper dealing directly with Philo, namely the first paper in this seminar:
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
7/03/2006 2:00 PM to 5:15 PM
Room: Seminar 10 - William Robertson

Theme: More Old Testament Pseudepigrapha

Pierluigi Piovanelli, University of Ottawa, Presiding
Archie T. Wright, Regent University
Philo and the Book of Watchers (30 min)
Markus H. McDowell, Westmont College
Jael in Pseudo-Philo’s Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum: A Comparative and Intertextual Approach (30 min)
J.R.C. Cousland, University of British Columbia
When, Where, and Why: Space and Time in the “Books of Adam and Eve” (30 min)
Break (45 min)
James R. Davila, University of St. Andrews-Scotland
More Jewish Pseudepigrapha (30 min)
Kristian Heal, Brigham Young University
Ps. Basil's History of Joseph: A Key to the Early Syriac Tradition (30 min)

Kåre Fuglseth wil participate in the following session:

Methods in New Testament Studies
7/03/2006
8:45 AM to 12:30 PM
Room: G.01 - William Robertson

Paul Danove, Villanova University, Presiding
Dennis R. MacDonald, Claremont School of Theology
My Turn: A Critique of Critics of Mimesis Criticism (30 min)
Steven Richard Scott, University of Ottawa
Chiasm, Structure, and Rhetoric in Mark (30 min)
Daniel E. Goodman, Gardner-Webb University
Hear Then the Satire: The Militant Irony of the Parables of Jesus (30 min)
Break (45 min)
Kåre Fuglseth, Teacher's College of Bodoe
The Bible Read in the Polar Night: Hermeneutic-Phenomenological Methods in New Testaments Studies (30 min)
David Reis, College of Santa Fe
Constructing Identity and Imaginative Geographies: The Soul in the Formation of Early Christian Self-Definition (30 min)
Andrew D. Scrimgeour, Drew University
In Search of the Real Jesus Seminar (30 min)

I do hope Kåre will be able to report from the SBl International Meeting.

The SNTS General Meeting will be held in Aberdeen, July 25-29. This will be my first participation as a member, and I am looking forward to that.

The Program of this conference can be found ont the web reference given above. This conference is focusing on the New Testament. It looks like there will be no paper dealing primarily with Philo. Nevertheless, it may turn out to be an interesting event!

Site Meter

I have added a site meter counter, that is a counter that counts visits, to my website on Resources on Philo of Alexandria. It is always interesting to see how many visitors a page receives, and from where in the world. So now you are counted. Hope you don't mind . :-)

'Does a Serpent Give Life?'

First; Congratulations to James H. Charlesworth who has passed his 65th Birthday, and who received a great Festschrift on that occasion:Ian H. Henderson and Gerbern S. Oegema (eds), The Changing Face of Judaism, Christianity, and Other Greco-Roman Religions in Antiquity. Studien zu den Jüdischen Schriften aus hellenistisch-römischer Zeit Band 2 (Gütersloh; Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2006).
Second, I would like to point attention to a brief article in that volume related to our studies of Philo:Amy Birkan-Shear, "Does a Serpent Give Life?" Understanding The Brazen Serpent According to Philo and Early Rabbinic Literature, pp. 416-426.The author of this study want to focus on some interpretations of Num 21:4-9 from Jewish scholars of the first centures CE. In light of the first commandment, one might wonders how one managed to cope with the issue of this brazen serpent figure, an image that even became the object of worship at one particular time by the israelites (2 Kgs 18:4).

The author deals first with Philo's version of Num 21 as given in Leg. All. 2,76-81, then with Mishnah Rosh HaShanah 8, and Mekilta of Rabbi Yishmael, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and the 'Jerusalem Fragment'.

Her conclusions runs like this (p. 425): Most of the sources analysed deviate from the literal reading of Num 21:8-9; the role of the serpent is minimized to various degrees. Philo and the Mishnah alike remove the serpent from the role of healing the Israelites. To Philo the serpent becomes a means of observing God, and it is this observation that brings healing. According to m.Rosh Hash. 8, the Israelites looks 'upwards' for healing, not at the serpent. The Mekilta, Pseudo-Jonathan, and the JF do not remove the serpent, but this is accompanied by another action; by looking at the serpent, they believed in Him who commanded Moses to make it.
Thus it seems to be an uneasiness shared by the sources, each modifying the text's very straightforward meaning. The main change or addition is an emphasis on 'intention of mind' or 'belief' to accompany the act of looking at the serpent.

This study is interesting in and by itself, but also because one also meets the brazen serpent in the Gospel of John (3:14-15), and here too faith is emphasized. The author of this article, does not, however, comment on this passage.

Philo und das neue Testament

SBL's service, www. bookreviews.com. has another set of reviews published. Among these is the following on Philo: Deines, Roland and Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, editors, Philo und das Neue Testament: Wechselseitige Wahrnehmungen, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 172 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004). For several reasons, among these the fact that I am a contributor to the volume, this volume has been mentioned several time before on this blog... The volume is a result of a conference held in Eisenach, Germany 1-4 May 2003.

The God-fearers between facts and fiction

The Scandinavian journal Studia Theologica (published by Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group) is out (Volume 60, Number 1 / June 2006), and while it does not contain any articles directly related to Philo, I would like to point the attention of my readers to at least one article that is related to the field of Diaspora Judaism:

Dietrich-Alex Koch,
The God-fearers between facts and fiction
Two theosebeis-inscriptions from Aphrodisias and their bearing for the New Testament
Vol. 60, No 1/June 2006, pp. 62 - 90.

The Abstract presented by the journal runs thus:
The discussion concerning the God-fearers of the first centuries C.E. seemed to have come to a dead end. But in 1987, the situation changed when an inscription from Aphrodisias was published containing more than 50 persons who were called Theosebeis/God-worshippers. Since then, a vivid discussion has taken place and it is time for a re-evaluation of this important publication. Meanwhile, it has turned out that the stele of Aphrodisias contains two different texts, independent from each other and deriving from different dates (the 4th and 5th centuries CE). It is argued that in both texts the term ‘God-worshipper’ is used in different ways – as a designation for a mere social relationship (on the front side) and as a designation for a religious commitment (on the left side). Going back to earlier periods, Theosebeis-inscriptions from Tralles and Sardes are discussed. Concerning the Acts of the Apostles it is acknowledged that Luke indeed draws a literary picture when he uses the ‘God-worshippers’ (as he does when uses the proselytes), but it is maintained that this picture has its equivalence in the social and religious world of Luke and his readers.

Philo books on sale

Dove Booksellers announces that they have several books for sale, some rather heavily discounted. Among these are also some books on Philo. Here you have an opportunity to fill up some empty space in your book shelves:

Calabi, Francesca
Italian Studies on Philo of Alexandria
Publishers List $91.00 Dove 56.99

Sly, Dorothy
Philo's Perception of Women
Publishers List $59.95 Dove 28.99

Winter, Bruce W
Philo and Paul Among the Sophists: Alexandrian and Corinthian Responses to a Julio-Claudian Movement
Publishers List $32.00 Dove 16.99

Philo on Wikipedia

The free Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia is constantly growing. While one should always be critical when reading its articles, there are several very good and informative.

Philo has also been included: here are some references to wikipedia articles on Philo:

English Wikipedia:
Philo
Philo's works
Philo's view of God

German Wikipedia
Philo

French Wikipedia
Philon de Alexandrie

Swedish Wikipedia
Philo Judeus (very brief)

Italian Wikipedia
Filone de Alexandrie (very, very brief)

Wikipedia in Portugal
Philon Italian Wikipedia (very, very brief)

Polish Wikipedia
Filon z. Aleksandrii

I have found no article on Philo in the following version of Wikipedia;
the Dutch version, in the Spanish version, and in the Norwegian Wikipedia.

Correction June 1:
There is, in fact, a brief article on Philo in the Spanish version: Filon de Alexandria.

News on Aristobolus

Snipped from the Online Critical Pseudepigrapha News Blog:Ian Scott has just completed an updated version of Aristobulus. This update includes an expanded introductory page with full bibliographic information for the published sources of the Aristobulus fragments. The Grammateus reader interface has also been upgraded to allow the poetic quotations in the Artapanus fragments to be displayed in proper versified form. You can find this info on the Online Critical Pseudepigrapha webpage here.

Pisidian Antioch

A great website on a site known to students of both early Christianity and Judaism has been launced; Building a new Rome:The Imperial Colony of Pisidian Antioch.

The background of the website is this: From January 13 to February 24, 2006 at the Duderstadt center on the University of Michigan north campus, the Kelsey Museum mounted an exhibition on the Roman site of Antioch of Pisidia in Asia Minor (Turkey)—a Hellenistic city refounded by Augustus in 25 BC as a Roman colony. Located along a strategic overland artery between Syria and the western coast of Asia Minor, Pisidian Antioch served Rome’s military needs but also presented a striking symbol, from the Roman perspective, of the benefits that Roman civilization provided to local populations. The city is best known to the modern world as a destination on the first missionary journey of St. Paul and Barnabas in the 1st century AD, recounted in the Book of Acts....
Held at the Duderstadt Center Gallery on North Campus, the exhibition featured a physical model created with a 3-D printer. Digital reconstructions of the buildings and topography projected on three screens will take the viewer on a journey through the virtual city. The large scale of the three-screen projection conveyed a sense of the original monumentality of the site and the character of its setting. Kiosks, located throughout the exhibition, allowed visitors to explore each virtual building on a smaller scale. At scheduled times the “CAVE,” located in the Duderstadt Center, offered a walk-in, fully three-dimensional experience of Antioch.
With the close of the Duderstadt phase of the exhibition, all of the text, images, and movies, as well as considerable additional content is to be arranged into the permanent, online version of "Building a New Rome: The Imerial Colony of Pisidian Antioch, 25 BC to 700 AD."
Have a look; again; Internet at its best...

Cambridge Companion to Philo

This morning I reread Ellen Birnbaum's review article on Philo ("Two Millennia Later: General Resources and Particular Perspectives on Philo the Jew," Currents in Biblical Research 4 (2006): 241-276), and noticed in the bibliography that she had listed a not yet published volume edited by A. Kamesar, The Cambridge Companion to Philo of Alexandria.

This was news to me, and I was looking for further information, but I found no information on the webpage of Cambridge University Press; neither on their page on Religion Religon nor on Philosophy, or any other sites on the Internet.

If anyone has any information about this forthcoming volume, please use the comments field below and tell us.

Texts of Josephus

In updating my Resource Pages for Biblical Studies, I discovered that the link on page One to the translation of the works of Josephus was outdated. Interested readersd should find the texts, (the old translation of Whiston), on this link; The Works of Flavius Josephus

Antike Schulwesen

A collegue of mine, Associate professor Tor Vegge, at the University College of Agder, Kristiansand - Norway, received his doctor degree on a huge dissertation on Die Schule des Paulus. Eine Untersuchung zur Art und zum Stellewert schulischer Bildung im Leben des Paulus. (Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, 2004) 595 pages! This volume is interesting also for students of Philo and his social world, as it both draws on Philo, and presents the 'school system' of Philo's time. It is a very learned study, and I am happy to see that it is now in process of being published. The publisher is Walter de Gruyter in Berlin: Vegge, Tor, Paulus und das antike Schulwesen Band 1: Schule und Bildung des Paulus (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 134; Ca. Euro [D] 148,- / ca. sFr 237,- / for USA, Canada, Mexico ca. US$ 207,20. 23 x 15,5 cm. Ca. 600 Seiten. Leinen. ISBN 3-11-018345-5. I hope to come back to this study here when I get hold of the published volume. In the meantime, here is the publisher's presentation: "The author describes educational methods, educational ideals and literary education in the Hellenistic period based on an analysis of ancient ideas and concepts of teachers, pupils and students. Paul’s education is discussed against this wide background and in view of his ancestry. Analyses of his letters (especially 1 Cor. 7 and 2 Cor. 10–13) prove Paul had great compositional skills, so it must be assumed that he had literary and rhetorical training."

Philo on Sarah

An article from 2004 I noticed recently is this dealing with Philo's exposition of Sarah:Maren R. Niehoff,
'Mother and Maiden, Sister and Spouse: Sarah in Philonic Midrash,'
Harvard Theological Review 97 (2004): 413-444

Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies

Professor Craig A. Evans has updated , and changed the title, of his former book Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation (1992), now issued asAncient Texts for New Testament Studies: A Guide to the Background Literature (Hendrickson Press, Peabody, Ma, 2005). 528 pp. The book deals with the great amount of relevant literature as the Old Testament apocrypha, the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, assorted ancient translations of the Old Testament and the Targum paraphrases, Philo and Josephus, Rabbinic texts, the New Testament pseudepigrapha, the early church fathers, various gnostic writings, and more.

Philo is dealt with as Philo (p. 168f); Philo and the New Testament (p. 170f); and General bibliography for Philo (p. 172).

French Philo Presentation

As I do like to believe that I can read and speak French, I am always looking around (particularly on the Internet) for French sources on Philo. I found one the other night that the whole world might be familiar with already, but since it was new to me, I would like point out the publication of Mireille Hadas-Lebel, Professor at the University of Sorbonne, Paris, (well known for her Hebrew and Hellenistic studies) a new introduction to Philo:

Philon d'Alexandrie. Un penseur en diaspora (Philo of Alexandria. A thinker of the Diaspora). Fayard, 2003. I have just ordered it and may come back to it later. There is a description at parutions.com by Yann le Bohec, who particularly points to the actuality of Philo. He says:

Que ce livre soit agréable à lire ne fait qu’ajouter à l’immense intérêt de son contenu. Il rappelle que les influences réciproques et les synthèses de doctrines n’ont pas été étrangères à l’Antiquité, loin de là, et il montre comment ont pu se rencontrer le judaïsme, l’hellénisme et la romanité ou romanisation. En 2003/2004, le problème des contacts de cultures reste d’actualité.

A translation could be:
The fact that this book is easy to read, only adds to the fact that its subject is of enormous interest. It brings to our minds that mutual influence and synthesis of thoughts were not uncommon in Antiquity, by far so. It also demonstrates how Judaism, Hellenism and the Roman or Romanised world could meet. In 2003/2204 the problem related to how cultures meet is still an actual problem.

Review of Fuglseth, Johannine Sectarianism

The SBL Bookreview service has now issued a review of my co-blogger's dissertation:Fuglseth, Kare Sigvald,
Johannine Sectarianism in Perspective: A Sociological, Historical, and Comparative Analysis of the Temple and Social Relationships in the Gospel of John, Philo, and Qumran (Supplements to Novum Testamentum, 119; Leiden: Brill, 2005), pp. xiv + 448.The review is written by Mary Coloe, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia.

The reviewer considers the work of Fuglseth as "particularly helpful in that it offers sound definitions of terms and criteria for evaluating the category most appropriate for the Fourth Gospel. The study of other firstcentury Jewish communities of Philo and Qumran provides useful comparative material to situate John within a spectrum of social organizations with respect to Judaism, to mainstream Christianity, and to the Greco-Roman milieu." She is not quite convinced by his exegesis of the temple action by Jesus, but all in all the vook is considered "a very helpful contribution to Johannine studies and the complex relationship between this community and post-70 Judaism. The application of sociological models offers precision and clarity to his analysis, and he paves a way out of supersessionist interpretations of John." You can read the whole review here.

Congratulations to my co-blogger!

Philadelphia Seminar

A direct link is now given for the session on Philo at the Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins', entitled “Ensouled Laws (Abraham and Moses): Sage as Text and Text as Sage in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria”. Click here to get to the webpage.

Kåre, Palm, Philo, and biblioblogs....

I have been eagerly waiting for a picture of Kare, sliding down the mountains at Fauske at Easter (see his post below), but he probably did not have a photographer available... Well, to be honest, this is just another way of stating that I am envious; he is having a Palm, I don't......I have wanted one for a long time, but other things have had to get a priority. Wish I had a rich uncle....

But it is also an opportunity to partly explain the silence of this blog in the last weeks; not only is the Norwegian Easter exceptionally long (over a week), but I have been sick for almost two weeks, and have not yet recovered..... And before that I was almost exhausted by all the packing and unpacking related to our moving. I'm getting old (hysj...)

These few comments above are also triggered by some postings by Jim West and Mark Goodacre on the dis-integration of biblioblogs. The observations of Jim are not surprising; the growth of blogs held by a wide range of people, from students to older scholars, focusing on topics wide and small, makes the blogdom a wide field to follow, not to say to interact with.

My dreams are still about some major biblioblogs, sponsored by major organizations, and authored and maintained by established schoolars, focusing on some quite specific biblical fields. Thus these could be peaks in the field of biblical scholarship on the Net. When everyone becomes a biblioblogger just because he or she focus on some topics relevant to the Bible, what has then become of biblical scholarship?

I have a uneasy feeling that the amount of biblioblogs, and the lack of some major ones, will in some time lead to the lack of interest in the phenomenon as such. And finally the death of biblioblogs to spend time on. Who wants to read through a lot of blogs that are so comprehensive in scope that you can not understand from its name what the purpose or focus is, and not knowing the scholarly status of the writer? For my own part, I know I do not have the time for such readings, even though I use Bloglines..

But for the time being, I'll still try to stick to my Philo.

Another Review

A new review of David T. Runia's commentary on De Opificio On the Creation of the Cosmos according to Moses: Introduction, Translation and Commentary. Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series, 1. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005 pp. xviii + 443. Paperback) has been published at the SBL's Review of Biblical Literature. It is written by Claudio Zamagni, and you can access it here as a .pdf file.

Philo now available on PalmBible+

Another happy day in the history of the the Norwegian Philo Concordance Project! As earlier announced, Jim Darlack, has been working on a project making the Philo text available on handheld computers. Today, Jim has published the good news that the Greek text (text only) of Philo may be downloaded for free and used on PalmBible+ . Jim is Reference Librarian at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Thanks, Jim.

Perhaps it is now time to buy a handheld?

As most Norwegians I spend next week (Easter) skiing in the mountains. I am going to stay in my mountain "mansion" in the Salten Alps at Fauske. I can imagine myself sliding down the hill with a handheld in my hands, reading Philo:

Ensouled Laws (Abraham and Moses)

For those able to attend, and even other Philonists, this may be of interest (thanks to A. Halbakken for the info): The meeting of April 27 of PSCO 43 will be held at the end of April:

27 April -- Professor Hindy Najman (University of Toronto):
"Ensouled Laws (Abraham and Moses): Sage as Text and Text as Sage in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria."

Here are some preliminary details and suggested readings.

Thursday, 27 April 2006, the Religious Studies and Jewish Studies programs at Penn join with PSCO to welcome Hindy Najman (University of Toronto -- http://www.nd.edu/~philojud/03a.htm).

There will be a cafeteria style kosher dinner in the Logan 2nd Floor Lounge at 5:30 pm sponsored by the Religious Studies and Jewish Studies programs.

Prior to that, Dr. Najman will be available at an informal "open forum" question and answer period from 3:30 - 5:00 pm, centering on her book Seconding Sinai and her current research interests, in the same location, coordinated by Bob Kraft. Come and make a full afternoon and evening of her visit.

From 7-9 pm, Hindy Najman will speak on the subject

"Ensouled Laws (Abraham and Moses): Sage as Text and Text as Sage in the Writings of Philo of Alexandria"

Abstract:Philo of Alexandria calls Moses and Abraham ensouled laws. These biblical figures achieve such an elevated status because they intuit Natural Law on their own. What does it mean, for Philo, to be "like Moses" or "like Abraham" and is this possible or even desirable? And how does this all relate to Philo's claim that the text of Mosaic Law is a living thing that can guide its adherents towards becoming "soul alone"?
This presentation explores the conception of sages and texts as exemplars in the first century works of Philo. It seeks to deepen Peter Brown's analysis of late ancient holy men in two ways

(1) First, it complicates Brown's distinction between "'the divine man', of late classical times . . . [who] continued to draw his powers from a bottomless sense of occult wisdom preserved for him in and by society . . . [and] the holy man [who] drew his powers from outside the human race: by going to live in the desert, in close identification with an animal kingdom that stood, in the imagination of contemporaries, for the opposite pole of all human society" ("The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity," 131-2). In Philo's view, exemplary figures (or, in Brown's terms, "divine men") such as Abraham and Moses drew their powers directly from nature and God, not from socially transmitted wisdom, and life in the desert (as with Brown's "holy men") was an important way to effect the necessary separation from society.
(2) Second, this presentation examines how those who acknowledge the exemplar's authority understood or experienced the situation. Whereas for Brown the focus is on the holy man's accrual of power (paradoxically through "dissociation" from humanity or in "splendid isolation") -- and similarly for David Frankfurter in "Dynamics of Ritual Expertise in Antiquity and Beyond: Towards a New Taxonomy of 'Magicians'" -- for Philo the power realized by the exemplars exists only as others attribute to them a pursuit of something other than power.

Primary texts from Philo of Alexandria:
Life of Moses 2.1-16 and 288-292;
The Contemplative Life 77-78 and 83-90;
On Abraham 2-6 and 275-276.

For background reading,
see especially H. Najman, ch. 3 "Copying Nature, Copying Moses" in Seconding Sinai: The Development of Masaic Discourse in Second Temple Judaism (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 77; Brill 2003), 70-107;
also "A Written Copy of the Law of Nature: An Unthinkable Paradox?" in The Studia Philonica Annual 15: Law Stamped with the Seal of Nature: Law and Naturein Hellenistic Philosophy and Philo of Alexandria(Brown Judaic Studies 337; Brown University, 2003) 54-63.

For additional reading:

Peter Brown, "The Saint as Exemplar in Late Antiquity," pp. 3-14 in Saints and Virtues, ed. John Stratton Hawley (Comparative Studies in Religion and Society 2; Univ. of California Press, 1987).

Martin S. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism, 200 BCE - 400 CE (Oxford University Press, 2001), ch. 7, "Torah in the Mouth in Galilean Discipleship Communities," 126-152, and ch. 8, "Epilogue," 153-156 (see also the endnotes on 201-209 that correspond to those chapters); Pierre Hadot, What is Ancient Philosophy? (Harvard University Press, 2002) 220-233 (see also the endnotes on 313-314).

According to its selfpresentation, PSCO is a colloquium on the origins and development of early Christianity. Its active membership includes teachers and research scholars in the study of early Judaism and early Christianity from a variety of institutions of higher learning in Philadelphia (USA) and the surrounding area.