Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 2005 345
and Jacob especially in the treatises Abr., Spec., Praem.andMos.Böhmviewsthe
Exposition of the Law as an introduction for interested non-Jews in Alexandria.
The ‘difficult texts’ are skipped, discussions between Jews are not mentioned,
Philo seems to decline to work directly with the text of LXX and the biblical text
is only paraphrased. The narratives have an ethical orientation and an important
focus lies on the dualism of virtue and vice, which originate in God’s creation and
providence. The second part of Philo’s œuvre is a real commentary. The readers
are supposed to be familiar with the LXX and they are introduced to a universal
meaning of the text. The third part, the Quaestiones, is interpreted as an early
work of Philo. The main audience for this work also seems to be Jews, to whom
akindofstudy-book(Studienbuch) is offered. In this way the author relates the
narratives of the Patriarchs to the different hermeneutical orientations of Philo’s
writings. This is the reason for the different perspectives, varieties and jumps in
content, which are normally attributed to Philo as inconsistencies. But in this
hermeneutic Philo is underlined as a contextual theologian and narrator. All
in all, the writings of Philo are evaluated as different theological approaches
adapted for the task of dealing with the tensions between Egypt, Greek and
Jewish inhabitants at an intellectual level. See also the article by the author in the
conference volume of Deines and Niebuhr, summarized above 20412. Reviews:
L. L. Grabbe, JSOT 30 (2006) 162–163; D. M. Hay, CBQ 68 (2006) 534–536;
M. Niehoff, JSJ 37 (2006) 416–418; D. Lanzinger, BZ 53 (2009) 296–297. (GS)
20512.A.P.Bos,‘PhilovanAlexandriëendeGrieksefilosofie,’inR.W.
Munk (ed.), Filosofie, Jodendom, Joodse filosofie (Budel, The Netherlands
2005) 9–22.
The author briefly discusses some aspects of Philo’s thought, among which
we mention God’s transcendence, the Logos and the divine powers. He pays also
attention to Philo’s allegorical exegesis of the figure of Abraham, and the doctrine
of the divine pneuma, which, in his view, can be partly labeled as Aristotelian.
According to the author, Philo is an exegete who interprets the Bible in service
of his Greek philosophical presuppositions. In an appendix Bos offers a Dutch
translation of Her. 55–57 and 96–99. (ACG)
20513.L.Brisson,Introduction à la philosophie du mythe (Paris 2005),
esp. 86–89.
Brief discussion of Prov. 2.40–42 in the context of a discussion of the interpretation
of the traditional Greek myths in the Platonist and Neopythagorean
tradition. (DTR)
20514.M.L.Colish,Ambrose’s Patriarchs: Ethics for the Common Man
(Notre Dame Ind. 2005).
The exegetical works of Philo are a constant point of reference in this first
monographic study of the four treatises that Ambrose devoted to the Old