Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

98 part two
Philo produced different kinds of commentaries to fulfil his aim of guiding the
initiate into the deeper truth of the Torah, which leads the soul to a vision of
God. It might seem, Wan concludes, that Philo’s strategy was a failure, but in a
different Christian setting it actually became ‘wildly successful’ (p. 87). It may be
concluded that scripture and commentary can live in a hermeneutical symbiosis.
It is in fact commentary that makes scripture finally acceptable to a community.
Without a commentary tradition scripture would not survive. So educators have
to be interpreters of their own traditions. At the end of the article there is a
summary in Chinese. (DTR)
98107.B.Wander,Gottesfürchtige und Sympathisanten: Studien zum
heidnischen Umfeld von Diasporasynagogen, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen
zum Neuen Testament 104 (Tübingen 1998).
The author first offers a terminological study of εσεής and analogous
terms in literary texts and inscriptions. The root εσε-inPhilocanhaveasocial
component and is used in the context of conversion to Judaism (pp. 59f.). The
root εσε- designates the highest virtue (p. 69). Later on, Wander collects
indirect testimonies in Jewish and pagan authors. Philo (pp. 140–143) testifies
to the attractiveness of Judaism for pagans. However, the Syrian legate Petronius
(Legat. 245) is not the best example of such sympathizers. Nor is QE 2.1 a clear
allusion to this group (p. 52). In contrast to these, the term πρσήλυτς refers
to real converts. (DZ)
98108. L. Wells, The Greek Language of Healing from Homer to New
Testament Times, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
83 (Berlin 1998), esp. 103–119.
After a study of the use of σώω, άμαι, γιαίνω and εραπεω in pagan
sources Wells prefaces to her section on the NT some pages on the terminology
in LXX, Philo and Josephus. The inquiry into Philo is limited to the use of
εραπευ- inProb., Contempl., Flacc. andAet. The example of the Therapeutae
shows that ‘holistic health and spiritual worship are inextricably entwined’. (DZ)
98109. J. Whittaker, ‘How to Define the Rational Soul,’ in C. Lévy
(ed.), Philon d’Alexandrie et le langage de la philosophie, Monothéismes et
Philosophie (Turnhout 1998) 229–253.
Modern editors in Det. 83andPraem. 26readκέκληται (‘has been named’)
to the effect that according to Philo νς κα λγισμς (Det.) or νς κα
λγς (Praem.) were in use as definitions of the highest form of soul. Neither
of these designations, however, belongs to the usual Middle Platonic repertoire
of terms. Whittaker argues that κεκλήρωται (‘has been allotted’; cf. Conf. 21
and Spec. 1.201) should be read instead. The couplets νς κα λγισμς/λγς
nevertheless do have their own history, and this history is sketched by the author
by means of a learned discussion of passages from, among others, Plutarch,