Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

236 part two
customs. The author examines how traditions connected with this passage
developed in such Hellenistic Jewish sources as the Septuagint, Jubilees, Philo,
Josephus, and the Testament of Abraham; Christian sources such as 1Clement,
Apocalypse of Paul, Origen, John Chrysostum, and Augustine; and rabbinic
sources such as The Fathers according to R. Nathan, Genesis Rabbah, andSotah
(Babylonian Talmud). Most of these writings view Abraham as a paradigm of
hospitality to be imitated. Common concerns in some works include identifying
the three visitors as men, angels, or God; addressing how the visitors could be
described as eating, since it was commonly assumed that angels do not eat; and
viewing Isaac’s birth as a reward for Abraham’s hospitality. Philo saw Abraham
as a living law, whose example of hospitality was to be emulated. Philo also
contrasted Abraham’s hospitality with the inhospitality of the Egyptians rather
than that of the Sodomites, which the Bible and other interpreters emphasized.
It is also shown how these various traditions can illuminate passages in the New
Testament, especially Heb 13:2. (EB)
20308. D.E.Aune,T.SelandandJ.H.Ulrichsen,Neotestamentica
et Philonica: Studies in Honor of Peder Borgen, Supplements to Novum
Testamentum 106 (Leiden 2003).
Festschrift in honour of the 75th birthday of the distinguished Norwegian
New Testament and Philo scholar, Peder Borgen. It contains 18 scholarly contributions
followed by a Select Bibliography of his writings in 1987–2001. The
frontispiece of the volume shows the honorand wearing the presidential chain of
The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters and the medal of a Knight
of the Norwegian Royal Order of St. Olav. The Preface gives a brief account of
his life and career (so far). Five of the contributions focus on aspects of Philo’s
thought and writings. They are separately summarized under the names of their
authors. Reviews: RB 111 (2004) 291–292; W. Horbury, JThS 56 (2005) 603–
604; K. W. Niebuhr, ThLZ 130 (2005) 919–920; T. H. Tobin, SPhA 17 (2005)
215–217. (DTR)
20309. S. Badilita, ‘La communauté des Thérapeutes: une Philonopolis?’
Adamantius 9 (2003) 67–77.
The author, though not wishing to identify the Therapeutae with any group
other than themselves and also not wishing to make ‘utopian ascetics’ out of
them, makes a comparison of the Philonic description of this community with
Plato’s texts on the city, especially as they are presented in the Republic.Inorder
to illustrate her reading of Contempl. seen as a replica of the Platonic model of
the city, she has focused on the following themes: the location of the community,
its regimen of food and clothing, the presence of women in the community, and
the description of the banquet. (JR)
20310. R. Bergmeier, ‘Zum historischen Wert der Essenerberichte
von Philo und Josephus,’ in J. Frey and H. Stegemann (edd.), Qum-