Philo of Alexandria - Books and Journals

critical studies 1997 47
Reprint of the original 1985 article (= R-R 8532) as one of what the editors
believe to be ‘the best articles . . . published in the first 50 issues (1978–1993) of
Journal for the Study of the New Testament’.SeealsothearticleofT.E.Schmidt,
below 9770. (DTR)
9756. A. Mendelson, ‘Philo’s Dialectic of Reward and Punishment,’
in D. T. Runia and G. E. Sterling (edd.), Wisdom and Logos: Studies
in Jewish Thought in Honor of David Winston [= The Studia Philonica
Annual 9 (1997)], Brown Judaic Studies 312 (Atlanta 1997) 104–125.
The theme of reward and punishment, tied to the exercise of divine justice,
is central in the entire Philonic corpus. The author examines two groups of
treatises, which appear to offer differing perspectives. In Virt. andPraem.,
both part of the Exposition of the Law, Philo stays close to the view of the
Deuteronomist in Deut 28: God rewards the good and pious and punishes the
wicked and impious in this life. There is a difference between the two treatises
in that in Praem. GodisnotgiventhesameactiverolethathehasinVirt. But
in three treatises of the Allegorical Commentary, which deal with the fates of
Cain and Abel, it is apparent that Philo was preoccupied with the problem of
the suffering of the righteous and the fact that Cain does not appear to receive
a commensurate punishment. He thus offers an interpretation in which, despite
appearances, Abel is rewarded and Cain is punished. Throughout this trilogy
Philo takes care to disassociate God from the direct exercise of punishment.
The reward for the good person is knowledge of all that follows in God’s wake.
The article closes with some reflections on Philo’s handling of divine justice. The
author hesitates to draw chronological conclusions from the differences he has
noted. Rather there is a creative tension between Moses, who epitomizes Law
and tradition, and Plato, who epitomizes rational enquiry. (DTR)
9757.J.Milgrom,‘PhilotheBiblicalExegete,’inD.T.RuniaandG.E.
Sterling (edd.), Wisdom and Logos: Studies in Jewish Thought in Honor
of David Winston [= The Studia Philonica Annual9 (1997)], Brown Judaic
Studies 312 (Atlanta 1997) 79–83.
The author, who is preparing a commentary on Leviticus, presents seven cases
in which Philo (in spite of his being a ‘supreme allegorist’) throws light on the
plain meaning of the literal text of Leviticus. The texts concerned are: Lev 19:3
(Decal. 165–167; Sacr. 77); Lev 19:23 (Virt. 157–159); Lev 19:28 (Spec. 1.58);
Lev 20:9 (Spec. 2.248); Lev 21:14 (Spec. 1.110); Lev 24:20 (Spec. 3.181–182); Lev
27:1–13 (Spec. 2.32–34). (HMK)
9758. S.Naeh,‘πτήριν ν ειρ κυρίυ: Philo and the Rabbis on
the Powers of God and the Mixture in the Cup,’ in H. M. Cotton, J. J.
Price and D. J. Wasserstein (edd.), Studies in Memory of A. Wasserstein
[= Studia Classica Israelica 16 (1997)] (Jerusalem 1997) 91–101.