Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

168 part two
20126.L.Gusella,‘Esseni,comunitàdiQumran,terapeuti,’Materia
Giudaica. Rivista dell’associazione per lo studio del giudaismo 6 (2001)
223–246.
The article discusses three forms of Jewish community life: the Essenes,
the Qumran community, and the Therapeutae. The article begins by looking
briefly at the identity and organizational structure of the first two groups and
then examines the Therapeutae in greater detail. Described by Philo in his
Contempl., the group’s characteristic features include the presence of women,
celibacy practiced by all members, and total dedication to contemplative life.
The discussion focuses on the Therapeutae’s social-cultural extraction, their
daily contemplative life, the Scriptures and other books they used, the question
whether they performed manual labour, their celebration of the Sabbath, their
festival of the fiftieth or forty-ninth day (with Nikiprowetzky’s reconstruction),
their celibacy, the Therapeutrides and the meaning of ‘elderly virgins’ (Contempl.
68 and Cher. 50). The article concludes with a discussion whether the three
groups were autonomous or related to one another. It is argued that the Essenes
and the Qumran community were closely related; the community experience of
the Therapeutae, on the other hand, was independent and unique. (HMK; based
on the author’s English abstract)
20127. A.M.Hahn,Tohuva-Vohu: Matter, Nothingness and Nonbeing
in Jewish Creation Theology (diss. Jewish Theological Seminary of
America 2001).
Hellenistic Jewish thought, with a special focus on Philo, is one of the four
periods dealt with in this dissertation, which investigates the interpretation
of the phrase tohu va-vohu up to and including the Middle Ages. Two basic
approaches are followed. The first is philological, the second utilizes philosophical
exegesis and inter-textual analysis. It is speculated that there might have been
a kind of ‘Jewish matter’, in which everything is mixed up as mish-mash, in contrast
to the Greek idea of four elements. The ethical connotations of the concept
are also pursued throughout the entire period covered by the study. It might
seem that matter has a kind of eternity and so can be regarded as somewhat
like God. Many authors warn against such a misapprehension. (DTR; based on
DAI-A 63/09, p. 3228)
20128. D.M.Hay,‘Philo,’inD.A.Carson,P.T.O’BrienandM.
Seifrid (edd.), Justification and Variegated Nomism: a Fresh Appraisal of
Paul and Second Temple Judaism. Vol. 1, The Complexities of Second Temple
Judaism, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
2.140 (Tübingen 2001) 357–379.
This article is part of a two-volume work intended to assess the usefulness
of E. P. Sanders’ concept of ‘covenantal nomism’ for understanding Second
Temple Judaism (vol. 1) and Paul (vol. 2). After describing the Philonic corpus,