102,819
edits
Changes
Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame '''Philo''' (20 BCE – 50 CE), known also as '''Philo of Alexandria''' (gr. Φίλων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς), Phi...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Philo.jpg|right|frame]]
'''Philo''' (20 BCE – 50 CE), known also as '''Philo of Alexandria''' (gr. Φίλων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς), Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria Alexandria], Yedidia and Philo the Jew, was an Hellenistic Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria.
Philo used [[allegory]] to [[fuse]] and [[harmonize]] Greek [[philosophy]] and [[Judaism]]. His method followed the [[practices]] of both Jewish exegesis and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoic Stoic] philosophy. His work was not widely accepted. "The sophists of literalness," as he calls them[1], "opened their eyes superciliously" when he explained to them the marvels of his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis exegesis]. Philo's works were enthusiastically received by the Early [[Christianity|Christians]], some of whom saw in him a cryptic Christian. His [[concept]] of the [[Logos]] as God's [[creative]] principle apparently [[influenced]] early [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christology Christology]. To him Logos was God's "blueprint for the world", a governing plan.
The few biographical details concerning Philo are found in his own works, especially in ''Legatio ad Gaium'' ("embassy to Gaius"), and in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus Josephus].[2] The only [[event]] in his life that can be determined chronologically is his participation in the embassy which the Alexandrian Jews sent to the emperor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula Caligula] at [[Rome]] as the result of civil strife between the Alexandrian Jewish and Hellenized communities. This occurred in the year 40 CE.
==Ancestry, family and early life==
Philo was probably born with the name Julius Philo. Philo came from an aristocratic [[family]] who lived in Alexandria for generations. His ancestors and family were contemporaries to the rule of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_dynasty Ptolemaic dynasty] and the rule of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire Seleucid Empire]. Although the names of his [[parents]] are [[unknown]], Philo came from a family who were [[noble]], honourable and [[wealthy]]. It was either his father or paternal grandfather who was granted Roman citizenship from Roman dictator Gaius [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar Julius Caesar]. Philo had two brothers Alexander the Alabarch and Lysimachus.
His ancestors and family had social ties and connections to the [[Priests|Priesthood]] in Judea; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasmonean Hasmonean Dynasty; Herodian Dynasty] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio-Claudian_dynasty Julio-Claudian dynasty] in [[Rome]]. Philo was a contemporary to the life of [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]] and the lives of [[Paper 139 - The Twelve Apostles|The Apostles of Jesus]]. Philo along with his brothers received a thorough [[education]]. They were educated in the Egyptian, Jewish, [[Greek]] and [[Roman]] [[cultures]], particularly in the [[traditions]] of [[Judaism]], the study of the [[Hebrew Bible|Old Testament]] and in [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Philosophy#Ancient_Philosophy Greek Philosophy].
==Exegesis==
The writings of Philo show resemblances to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato Plato], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle], as well as from Attic [[orators]] and historians, and poetic phrases and allusions to the poets. Philo's works offer an anthology of Greek phraseology of the most different periods.
Philo bases his [[doctrines]] on the [[Hebrew Bible]], which he considers as the source and [[standard]] not only of religious [[truth]] but in general of all truth. Its pronouncements are for him [[divine]] pronouncements. They are the [[words]] of the ἱερὸς λόγος, ϑεῖος λόγος, ὀρϑὸς λόγος[6] ([[holy]] word, godly word, upright word) uttered sometimes directly and sometimes through the mouth of a [[prophet]], especially through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses], whom Philo considers the real [[medium]] of [[revelation]], while the other writers of the Old Testament appear as [[friends]] or pupils of Moses.
Although he distinguishes between the [[words]] uttered by [[God]], as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decalogue Decalogue], and the edicts of Moses, as the special laws[7], he does not carry out this distinction, since he believes in general that [[everything]] in the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Torah Torah] is of divine [[origin]], even the letters and accents[8].
The [[Hebrew Bible]] had not been [[canonized]] at the time of Philo, and the extent of his [[knowledge]] of Biblical books cannot be exactly determined. Philo does not quote [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Ezekiel Ezekiel], [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Daniel Daniel], Canticles, [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Ruth Ruth], [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Lamentations Lamentations], [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes], or [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Esther Esther]. Philo regards the [[Bible]] as the source not only of religious [[revelation]], but also of philosophic [[truth]]; for, according to him, the Greek philosophers also have borrowed from the Bible: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus Heraclitus], according to "Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit" § 43 [i.503]; Zeno, according to ''Quod Omnis Probus Liber'', § 8 [ii.454].
==Stoic influence==
[[Greek]] [[allegory]] had preceded Philo in this field. As the Stoic allegorists sought in [[Homer]] the basis for their philosophic teachings, so the Jewish allegorists, and especially Philo, went to the [[Hebrew Bible|Old Testament]]. Following the [[methods]] of Stoic allegory, they interpreted the Bible philosophically (on Philo's Predecessors in the domain of the allegoristic Midrash among the Palestinian and Alexandrian Jews, see Siegfried, l.c. pp. 16–37).
==References==
# De Somniis, i.16-17
# Antiquities xviii.8, § 1; comp. ib. xix.5, § 1; xx.5, § 2
# Josephus, Antiquities viii. 8. 1.
# On Providence 2.64.
# Bruno Bauer (author of Christianity Exposed: A Recollection of the 18th Century and a Contribution to the Crisis of the 19th, publ. 1843) was a key proponent of this argument.
# De Agricultura Noë,"§ 12 [i.308]; De Somniis, i.681, ii.25.
# De Specialibus Legibus, §§ 2 et seq. [ii.300 et seq.]; De Præmiis et Pœnis, § 1 [ii.408].
# De Mutatione Nominum, § 8 [i.587].
# "De Abrahamo," § 36 [ii.29 et seq.]
# "Quæstiones in Genesin," ii.21.
# "De Cherubim," § 14 [i.47]; "De Somniis," i.33 [i.649].
# "Canons of Allegory," "De Victimas Offerentibus," § 5 [ii.255]); "Laws of Allegory," "De Abrahamo," § 15 [ii.11]
# "De Somniis," ii.2 [i.660].
# "De Vita Contemplativa," § 8 [ii.481].
# "De Migratione Abrahami." § 4 [i.439].
# De Allegoriis Legum iii. 45 [i.513].
# De Abrahamo § 44 [ii.137].
# De Allegoriis Legum, i.53 [i.73].
==External links==
*[http://cornerstonepublications.org/Philo/ Philo]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/TheWorksOfPhiloJudaeusVolII The Works Of Philo Judaeus Vol II (1854)] (Yonge's Eng. transl.)
*[http://patrologia.ct.aegean.gr/downloads/vivlia/Philo%20Judaeus/ The Works of Philo]
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=281&letter=P Jewish Encyclopedia]
*[http://www.torreys.org/bible/philopag.html Philo Page]
*[http://www.nd.edu/~philojud Studia Philonica Annual]
*[http://virtualreligion.net/iho/philo.html Philo] entry in historical sourcebook with [http://virtualreligion.net/iho/allegory.html fresh translations] of key excerpts by Mahlon H. Smith
*[http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/philo.html Text online]
*[http://sites.google.com/site/antiquityproject/home/first-century-alexandria Alexandria in the First Century]
[[Category: Philosophy]]
[[Category: Religion]]
'''Philo''' (20 BCE – 50 CE), known also as '''Philo of Alexandria''' (gr. Φίλων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς), Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria Alexandria], Yedidia and Philo the Jew, was an Hellenistic Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria.
Philo used [[allegory]] to [[fuse]] and [[harmonize]] Greek [[philosophy]] and [[Judaism]]. His method followed the [[practices]] of both Jewish exegesis and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoic Stoic] philosophy. His work was not widely accepted. "The sophists of literalness," as he calls them[1], "opened their eyes superciliously" when he explained to them the marvels of his [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis exegesis]. Philo's works were enthusiastically received by the Early [[Christianity|Christians]], some of whom saw in him a cryptic Christian. His [[concept]] of the [[Logos]] as God's [[creative]] principle apparently [[influenced]] early [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christology Christology]. To him Logos was God's "blueprint for the world", a governing plan.
The few biographical details concerning Philo are found in his own works, especially in ''Legatio ad Gaium'' ("embassy to Gaius"), and in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus Josephus].[2] The only [[event]] in his life that can be determined chronologically is his participation in the embassy which the Alexandrian Jews sent to the emperor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula Caligula] at [[Rome]] as the result of civil strife between the Alexandrian Jewish and Hellenized communities. This occurred in the year 40 CE.
==Ancestry, family and early life==
Philo was probably born with the name Julius Philo. Philo came from an aristocratic [[family]] who lived in Alexandria for generations. His ancestors and family were contemporaries to the rule of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_dynasty Ptolemaic dynasty] and the rule of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire Seleucid Empire]. Although the names of his [[parents]] are [[unknown]], Philo came from a family who were [[noble]], honourable and [[wealthy]]. It was either his father or paternal grandfather who was granted Roman citizenship from Roman dictator Gaius [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar Julius Caesar]. Philo had two brothers Alexander the Alabarch and Lysimachus.
His ancestors and family had social ties and connections to the [[Priests|Priesthood]] in Judea; [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasmonean Hasmonean Dynasty; Herodian Dynasty] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio-Claudian_dynasty Julio-Claudian dynasty] in [[Rome]]. Philo was a contemporary to the life of [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]] and the lives of [[Paper 139 - The Twelve Apostles|The Apostles of Jesus]]. Philo along with his brothers received a thorough [[education]]. They were educated in the Egyptian, Jewish, [[Greek]] and [[Roman]] [[cultures]], particularly in the [[traditions]] of [[Judaism]], the study of the [[Hebrew Bible|Old Testament]] and in [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Philosophy#Ancient_Philosophy Greek Philosophy].
==Exegesis==
The writings of Philo show resemblances to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato Plato], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle Aristotle], as well as from Attic [[orators]] and historians, and poetic phrases and allusions to the poets. Philo's works offer an anthology of Greek phraseology of the most different periods.
Philo bases his [[doctrines]] on the [[Hebrew Bible]], which he considers as the source and [[standard]] not only of religious [[truth]] but in general of all truth. Its pronouncements are for him [[divine]] pronouncements. They are the [[words]] of the ἱερὸς λόγος, ϑεῖος λόγος, ὀρϑὸς λόγος[6] ([[holy]] word, godly word, upright word) uttered sometimes directly and sometimes through the mouth of a [[prophet]], especially through [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses Moses], whom Philo considers the real [[medium]] of [[revelation]], while the other writers of the Old Testament appear as [[friends]] or pupils of Moses.
Although he distinguishes between the [[words]] uttered by [[God]], as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decalogue Decalogue], and the edicts of Moses, as the special laws[7], he does not carry out this distinction, since he believes in general that [[everything]] in the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Torah Torah] is of divine [[origin]], even the letters and accents[8].
The [[Hebrew Bible]] had not been [[canonized]] at the time of Philo, and the extent of his [[knowledge]] of Biblical books cannot be exactly determined. Philo does not quote [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Ezekiel Ezekiel], [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Daniel Daniel], Canticles, [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Ruth Ruth], [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Lamentations Lamentations], [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes], or [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Esther Esther]. Philo regards the [[Bible]] as the source not only of religious [[revelation]], but also of philosophic [[truth]]; for, according to him, the Greek philosophers also have borrowed from the Bible: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus Heraclitus], according to "Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit" § 43 [i.503]; Zeno, according to ''Quod Omnis Probus Liber'', § 8 [ii.454].
==Stoic influence==
[[Greek]] [[allegory]] had preceded Philo in this field. As the Stoic allegorists sought in [[Homer]] the basis for their philosophic teachings, so the Jewish allegorists, and especially Philo, went to the [[Hebrew Bible|Old Testament]]. Following the [[methods]] of Stoic allegory, they interpreted the Bible philosophically (on Philo's Predecessors in the domain of the allegoristic Midrash among the Palestinian and Alexandrian Jews, see Siegfried, l.c. pp. 16–37).
==References==
# De Somniis, i.16-17
# Antiquities xviii.8, § 1; comp. ib. xix.5, § 1; xx.5, § 2
# Josephus, Antiquities viii. 8. 1.
# On Providence 2.64.
# Bruno Bauer (author of Christianity Exposed: A Recollection of the 18th Century and a Contribution to the Crisis of the 19th, publ. 1843) was a key proponent of this argument.
# De Agricultura Noë,"§ 12 [i.308]; De Somniis, i.681, ii.25.
# De Specialibus Legibus, §§ 2 et seq. [ii.300 et seq.]; De Præmiis et Pœnis, § 1 [ii.408].
# De Mutatione Nominum, § 8 [i.587].
# "De Abrahamo," § 36 [ii.29 et seq.]
# "Quæstiones in Genesin," ii.21.
# "De Cherubim," § 14 [i.47]; "De Somniis," i.33 [i.649].
# "Canons of Allegory," "De Victimas Offerentibus," § 5 [ii.255]); "Laws of Allegory," "De Abrahamo," § 15 [ii.11]
# "De Somniis," ii.2 [i.660].
# "De Vita Contemplativa," § 8 [ii.481].
# "De Migratione Abrahami." § 4 [i.439].
# De Allegoriis Legum iii. 45 [i.513].
# De Abrahamo § 44 [ii.137].
# De Allegoriis Legum, i.53 [i.73].
==External links==
*[http://cornerstonepublications.org/Philo/ Philo]
*[http://www.archive.org/details/TheWorksOfPhiloJudaeusVolII The Works Of Philo Judaeus Vol II (1854)] (Yonge's Eng. transl.)
*[http://patrologia.ct.aegean.gr/downloads/vivlia/Philo%20Judaeus/ The Works of Philo]
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=281&letter=P Jewish Encyclopedia]
*[http://www.torreys.org/bible/philopag.html Philo Page]
*[http://www.nd.edu/~philojud Studia Philonica Annual]
*[http://virtualreligion.net/iho/philo.html Philo] entry in historical sourcebook with [http://virtualreligion.net/iho/allegory.html fresh translations] of key excerpts by Mahlon H. Smith
*[http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/philo.html Text online]
*[http://sites.google.com/site/antiquityproject/home/first-century-alexandria Alexandria in the First Century]
[[Category: Philosophy]]
[[Category: Religion]]