Crispin Fletcher-Louis once remarked that “It is well known that in the second Temple period Philo deified Moses.”¹ In fact, Moses’s deification in Philo is a deeply contested issue. Depending on which passages one highlights, Philo seems to both clearly assert and strongly deny Moses’s deification. In hisQuestions on Exodus, for instance, Philo says that Moses was “divinized” (2.40), “changed into the divine,” and thus became “truly divine” (2.29). Moreover, ten times Philo calls Moses “(a) god” (θεός) in accordance with Exod 7:1: “I [God] have made you a god to Pharaoh.” InOn the Sacrifices, for instance, Philo...

The term ἀποκατάστασις means essentially restoration, re-establishment, reconstitution into an original condition that was later lost. In medical language, for instance, it referred to the restoration of someone, or someone’s limbs, to health after illness, a distortion, and the like. In astronomical and cosmological language,apokatastasisreferred to the return of the planets and/or the stars to their original positions after many revolutions at the end of a “great year.” In political language it referred especially to the return of an exiled person to his or her homeland. Greek philosophers such as the Stoics, as I shall indicate, privileged the...

Throughout the history of biblical exegesis, Hagar and Sarah have stood as symbols. The simple narrative of Gen 16 has been read as suggesting much more than an arranged sexual engagement. Even in modern times, feminist scholars seek to highlight the nature of oppression and injustice by investigating the ancient accounts of the two women.¹ Similarly, ancient Christian interpreters were inclined to see Hagar and Sarah as symbols of greater truths.

In the early church, there are two primary strands of symbolic interpretation applied to Hagar and Sarah. The first is located initially in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, in...

Philo and Plutarch came out of similar Platonic backgrounds, but not all persons with similar backgrounds arrive at the same conclusions. The purpose here is to locate their positions within the context of religious monotheism. Many studies have appeared recently on “pagan monotheism.”¹ A major question has been whether it ever existed. The opponents point to no worship of such a God.² At the time of Philo and Plutarch, outside of Judaism, were prayers, sacrifices, or libations ever made simply to God and not to a particular god? Possibly this existed in the cult of Theos Hypsistos, treated intensively by...

Philo’s knowledge of both Jewish and Hellenistic literature and thought were recognized by ancients and praised. Josephus, our earliest witness, described Philo as “a man with the highest reputation, the brother of Alexander the alabarch, and proven in philosophy” (ϕιλοσοϕίας ούκ ἄπειρος).¹ Others were more expansive and generous. Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea, claimed that Philo was “a man of the highest distinction not only among us, but among pagans who pursue education.” He went on to praise Philo for his control of both Jewish and Hellenistic literature. The bishop thought “the extent and the quality of his labor concerning...

Philo’s explicit engagement with non-biblical authors has been a topic of enduring interest in Philonic scholarship. This has often been pursued by way of studying Philo’s use of a particular author or treatise,¹ or his treatment of a philosophicaltopos. Less often does one encounter discussion of two related questions: how should we characterize the distribution and frequency of his quotations; and how might Philo have accessed those sources that he quotes? Following on from the publication of “A Preliminary Index to Philo’s Non-Biblical Citations and Allusions” in a previous issue ofThe Studia Philonica Annual,² this article analyses the...

On two different occasions, Philo mentioned reactions of audiences to plays in a theater when he was present. While noting the different ways that humans respond to stimuli, he wrote: “When I have been in the theatre, I have often noticed that some are so moved by a melody sung by the actors on the stage or performed by the musicians that they are aroused and spontaneously join in an outburst of approval.” He noted that “others are so unaffected that one might suppose that in this way they are no different than the lifeless benches on which they are...

This paper falls into two parts. In the first, I show that, contrary to what some scholars have maintained, Philo held archaic and classical Greek poetry in high esteem, and believed that it was an important source of moral education. In the second, I offer some examples of Philo’s creative adaptation of poetic language and motifs, which confirm his deep engagement with the classical tradition.

Philo, who, as is well known, follows Plato’s philosophical positions more often than not, has, like Plato himself, an ambivalent relationship to poetry. Beyond the fact that he cites directly and frequently the best Greek...

One of the more intractable questions for students of Philo’s mystical thought regards the content of contemplative vision. Does the sage see God himself, the Logos, God’s powers, or some combination of these?¹ Some, like David Winston, argue that for Philo, God in himself remains completely transcendent and unknowable. The content of the sage’s vision and the source of his knowledge is limited to the Logos.² In this, Philo anticipates the mystical thought of Plotinus and Gregory of Nyssa.³

While agreeing with this general picture, others, like Bernard McGinn, Ellen Birnbaum, and Rowan Williams, judge that attributing such philosophical consistency...