Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2003 255
The first part of the thesis includes two chapters devoted to Philo. The first
describes Philo’s life and presents his works and his theology. In his treatment
of the latter, the author touches on the themes of the existence of God,
his transcendence, the Powers and the Philonic Logos. He then studies the
chief titles of God the Creator: Creator, Author / Founder, Demiurge, Father,
Cause, Craftsman, Begetter. The second chapter is a Commentary on Opif.
(JR)
20357. D. M. Goldenberg, The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in
Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Princeton 2003).
Goldenberg investigates how the so-called Curse of Ham, based on Gen
9:18–25, came to be understood as a justification for Black slavery. The book
is organized into four parts: (1) a chronological study of early Jewish views
of the Black African, (2) an examination of Jewish attitudes toward dark skin
color, (3) a history of Black slavery, and (4) a study of the effect of the historical
identification of Blacks with slavery upon Jewish, Christian, and Islamic biblical
interpretation. While the Bible itself does not link Blacks with slavery, ‘the
increasing association of Black with slave in the Near East’ and the incorrect
but recognized etymology of Ham as ‘dark, brown, or black’ influenced later
interpretation of the biblical passage (p. 197). Because Philo understands the
blackness of the Ethiopians to represent evil, some writers considered him
to be ‘the only exception to a lack of racism and prejudice in the ancient
Greek world’ (p. 48). Goldenberg defends him against this charge, however,
by noting that Philo was drawing upon commonly accepted color symbolism.
(EB)
20358. L. Grabbe, ‘Did all Jews Think Alike? “Covenant” in Philo and
Josephus in the Context of Second Temple Judaic Religion,’ in
S.E.PorterandJ.C.R.deRoo(edd.),The Concept of the Covenant
in the Second Temple Period, Supplements to the Journal for the Study of
Judaism 71 (Leiden 2003) 251–266.
Modern biblical scholars continue to debate how central the covenant is to
the Hebrew Bible. Grabbe surveys Second Temple literature (both biblical and
non-biblical) and concludes that while the notion is important in some sources,
‘a significant number of writers and writings do not mention ‘covenant’ or show
no interest in the concept’ (p. 264). Philo and Josephus must be classified among
this latter group. Without knowing Hebrew, Philo uses the term διαήκη, the
Septuagint translation of the Hebrew brit. His understanding is thus conditioned
by the primary sense of the Greek word as a will or testament rather than of
the Hebrew word as a mutual agreement between God and humans, and he
emphasizes the covenant as a freely given divine gift. After discussing several
Philonic passages which mention διαήκη, Grabbe observes that Philo uses
the word with a range of associations that include the wise man as God’s heir,
God’s gift of grace, God’s law, God’s word, divine justice, the intelligible world,