RelSt 999: Philo (Fall 2003) & his Scriptures (Spring 2004)

Robert A. Kraft

Significant web sites and related course project pages:

• Jewish History Resource Center page (Hebrew University)
• Torrey Seland's Philo page
  
• Studia Philonica Annual
• Yonge's translation of Philo's works (with both old and new numbering systems)
• TLG texts (through the UPenn Library)
• Ryle on Philo's biblical quotations and formulae (see further, below)

Bibliography:

• Roberto Radice and David Runia, Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 1937-1986, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 8 (Brill 1988), xl + 471 pp. (1992 2nd edition, unaltered except additional foreword)
• David Runia, Philo of Alexandria: an Annotated Bibliography 1987-96 Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae 57 (Brill 2000), xxii + 412 pp.
• International Philo Bibliography Project (with a provisional online bibliography 1998-2000)
  

Introductory treatments:

• Emile Bréhier, "Philo Judaeus" in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1911) -- somewhat dated in some aspects but by a recognized student of Philonic thought (see his Les Idées Philosophiques et Religieuses de Philon d'Alexandrie [Paris 1908])
• unattributed, "Philo of Alexandria" in the online Early Church site -- focuses on Christian connections, depends heavily on Thomas Tobin, The Creation of Man: Philo And The History of Interpretation. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 14. (Washington, DC: The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1983).
• Marian Hillar, "Philo of Alexandria" in The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2001) -- extensive and detailed treatment of Philo and his ideas (recommended).
• David T. Runia, "Philo, Alexandrian and Jew," pp 1-18 in Runia's Exegesis and Philosophy: Studies on Philo of Alexandria (Variorum, Aldershot, 1990) (excellent brief introduction).
• Samuel Sandmel, Philo of Alexandria: An Introduction. Oxford: Oxford Univesity Press, 1979 (an excellent introductory treatment).
• E. R. Goodenough, Introduction to Philo Judaeus (2d ed. 1963) (somewhat more advanced).
• H. A. Wolfson, Philo (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1947), 2 vols. (advanced).
  
  

Editions (texts and translations) and tools:

• Leopold Cohn et Paul Wendland, Philonis Alexandrini Opera Quae Supersunt; 6 vols. plus indices by Leisegang (Berlin: Walther de Gruyter & Co. 1896-1930) [Greek text, critical edition; used for the TLG files]
• F. H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker, eds., The Works of Philo ( Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press / London: William Heinemann, 1929-1953), vols. 1-10 (Greek and English), plus two supplementary volumes ed Ralph Marcus, containing translations of works of Philo available mainly in Armenian.
• The Works of Philo. Complete and Unabridged. Translated (1854-55) by Charles Duke Yonge,
  New Updated Edition (Hedrickson 1993).
• P. Borgen, K. Fuglseth and R. Skarsten, The Philo Index: A Complete Greek Word Index to the Writings of Philo of Alexandria, 2nd edition (Brill 2000).

Readings (see above, Works of Philo translated by Yonge for full texts)

• Excerpts relating to Philo and his approaches to interpretation
  
  • Eusebius on Jewish interpretation (Preparation for the Gospel 8.10.18)
  • Eusebius on Philo (Ecclesiastical History 2.16-18)
  • Philo, Migration of Abraham 89-93 (on ancestral customs and their meaning)
  • Philo, On the Cherubim 40-49 (birth of Cain, God as begetter of virtues)
• Scriptural Exposition
• Questions on Genesis (book 1, book 2, book 3) and on Exodus
• On Abraham
• On Joseph
• Life of Moses 1 and Life of Moses 2
• Decalogue
• Special Laws, book 1, book 2, book 3, book 4
• Deeper Allegorical Readings of Scriptures
• Allegorical Interpretation, book1, book2, book 3
• On the Cherubim (see also excerpts)
• Migration of Abraham (see also excerpts)
• Non-scriptural Thematic and "Philosophical" Treatises
  • Every Good Man is Free (mentions Essenes as one of many examples of "authentic" living)
  • Hypothetica (Apologia for the Jews), excerpts on Laws of Moses and on Essenes
  • Contemplative Life (focus on the "Therapeutae")
  • On Animals [De Animalibus] (preserved in Armenian, ed A.Terian; not to be confused with the separately titled section in Spec. Laws 1.[33]162ff)
• Philo on Contemporary Issues (Flaccus, Gaius Caligula, Apologia)
• Against Flaccus
• Embassy to Gaius
• see also above, Apology or Hypothetica (fragments)

Philo's Use of Scriptural and Other Sources:

• Herbert Edward Ryle, PHILO AND HOLY SCRIPTURE, or, THE QUOTATIONS OF PHILO FROM THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (Macmillan 1895; reprints still available); see especially the introductory sections. Note: Ryle predates the critical edition of Philo by Cohn and Wendland, thus his section references follow the older divisions; he also predates the Cambridge and the Goettingen LXX/OG editions, and thus needs considerable updating.
• Peter Katz (Walters), Philo's Bible: the Aberrant Text of Bible Quotations in some Philonic Writings and its Place in the Textual History of the Greek Bible (Cambridge University Press 1950); some of this material will also be useful in updating Ryle.
  

Also of Special Interest:

• Lester Grabbe, Etymology in Early Jewish Interpretation: the Hebrew Names in Philo, Brown Judaic Series 115 (Atlanta: Scholars 1988).
• C. K.Wong, "Philo's Use of Caldaioi" (1990)
  "But as we group the instances and the pattern of usage of Cald. we see an interesting phenomenon. Philo uses all three senses in works which are generally called the expositions of the law but he does not use the word Cald. to designate a Hebrew person (sense 3) in the allegorical works."
• Robert A. Kraft, "Philo's Treatment of the Number Seven in On Creation."
• Katherine G. Evans, "Alexander the Alabarch: Roman and Jew" (summary of a presentation to the SBL Philo Group in 1995; deals with Philo's brother and the larger family)
• Robert A. Kraft, "Philo and the Sabbath Crisis: Alexandrian Jewish Politics and the Dating of Philo's Works." Pp. 131-41 in THE FUTURE OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF HELMUT KOESTER. Ed. Birger A. Pearson et al. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991.
  
• Robert A. Kraft, "Tiberius Julius Alexander and the Crisis in Alexandria according to Josephus." Pp. 175-84 in OF SCRIBES AND SCROLLS: STUDIES ON THE HEBREW BIBLE, INTERTESTAMENTAL JUDAISM, AND CHRISTIAN ORIGINS; presented to John Strugnell on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Ed. Harold W. Attridge et al. College Theological Society Resources in Religion 5; New York: University Press of America, 1991.