Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

112 part two
important to note that all authors had their own biases. Philo, for example, introduces
into his account certain Hellenistic themes like preference for spirit over
body and male over female. One must also use caution in assessing later sources
like Eusebius and Jerome, who connect the Essenes with Christianity. Only an
adherence to positivism and physicalism will anchor any subsequent claims to
surety in deriving information from these sources about the Qumran community.
(EB)
9939. A. Jakab, ‘Le judaïsme hellénisé d’Alexandrie depuis la fondation
de la ville jusqu’à la révolte sous Trajan,’ Henoch 21 (1999) 147–163.
The article attempts to trace the history of the Jewish community of Alexandria
from its foundation until the age of Trajan. It includes archeological evidence
from early Hellenistic times and describes the Hellenistic Jews as a prosperous
community, whose members belonged to all classes of society. With the
coming of Roman rule (30 b.c.e.) the political situation started to deteriorate,
and Jews became the main targets for Greeks hostile to Roman rule. In the first
century a number of incidents took place that forced the Jewish community to
withdraw to one area. After the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (70 c.e.)
they had to pay a special tax, and the repression of the Jewish revolt under Trajan
(115–117) appears to have led to the extermination of Judaism in Alexandria.
Philo’s work Flacc. is used to exemplify the social and legal status of first century
Judaism when the situation was beginning to become grave, and his Legat.
is utilized for its important historical information. (DTR; based on a summary
supplied by A. van den Hoek)
9940.C.-B.Julius,Die ausgeführten Schrifttypologien bei Paulus,Europaïsche
Hochschulschriften XXIII 668 (Frankfurt 1999), esp. 71–141.
After a sketch of pre-Philonic Alexandrian exegesis (pp. 41–70) the author
dwells on the biblical text of Philo and its authority, as well as on Philo’s
hermeneutical terms, esp. the concept of typos in his theory of knowledge and
in pedagogical contexts. These are seen against the background of the Platonic
thought of model and image, which is applied in Philo’s doctrine of creation,
esp. of the spirit as image of God. Here Julius notes a difference between the
ontological concept in Opif. and a more soteriological one in Leg. (see also
pp. 159–162). Scripture has a ‘typical’ character, too, because there historicalhuman
contents correspond to spiritual facts, which have a normative function.
On p. 135 a difference is drawn between this kind of typology and allegory as
continuous metaphor. Abr. 133–166 and Ebr. 94–125 are analyzed as examples
of such an exegesis. The author there detects fixed models of interpretation,
which reveal the scholarly context. This is esp. perceptible in the opposition of
figures like Jacob and Esau under different aspects. Julius wants to show that
a similar exegetical school is responsible for preconceived Pauline typologies
which transcend their context. (DZ)