Philo of Alexandria Studies in Philo of Alexandria Edited by Francesca Calabi and Robert Berchman Editorial Board Kevin Corrigan (Emory University) Louis H. Feldman (Yeshiva University, New York) Mireille Hadas-Lebel (La Sorbonne, Paris) Carlos Lévy (La Sorbonne, Paris) Maren Niehoff (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Tessa Rajak (University of Reading) Roberto Radice (Università Cattolica, Milano) Esther Starobinski-Safran (Université de Genève) Lucio Troiani (Universita’ di Pavia) VOLUME 7 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/philo Philo of Alexandria A Thinker in the Jewish Diaspora By Mireille Hadas-Lebel Translated by Robyn Fréchet LEiDEN • BOSTON 2012 Originally published as Philon d’Alexandrie un penseur en diaspora by Mireille Hadas-Lebel ©Librarie Arthème Fayard, 2003. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hadas-Lebel, Mireille.  [Philon d’Alexandrie. English]  Philo of Alexandria : a thinker in the Jewish diaspora / by Mireille Hadas-Lebel ; translated by Robyn Frechet.   p. cm. — (Studies in Philo of Alexandria ; 7)  includes bibliographical references and index.  iSBN 978-90-04-20948-0 (hardback : alk. paper) — iSBN 978-90-04-23237-2 (e-book) (print)  1. Philo, of Alexandria. 2. Alexandria (Egypt)—Civilization. 3. Judaism and philosophy.  4. Hellenism. i. Fr?chet, Robyn, translator. ii. Title.  B689.Z7H3413 2012  181’.06—dc23 2012017637 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, iPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface. iSSN 1543-995x iSBN 9789004209480 (hardback) iSBN 9789004232372 (e-book) Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. 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This book is printed on acid-free paper. i would like to express my sincere thanks to my friends Helen and Douglas Davis for their help in editing the English version of this book Contents Preface  ................................................................................................................ xi Abbreviations  ................................................................................................... xv I Alexandria “on the edge” of egypt  ................................................... 1 Alexandria Yesterday, Alexandria today  ....................................... 1 the City of Alexander  .......................................................................... 4 A Founder of Great eminence  ...................................................... 4 A new Brand of Urbanism  ............................................................. 6 the Lighthouse and the Ports  ............................................................ 8 At the Heart of Hellenistic Civilisation  ........................................... 11 the Museum  ...................................................................................... 11 the Library  ......................................................................................... 13 the Gymnasium  ................................................................................ 15 Places of entertainment  ................................................................. 15 Population and Districts of Alexandria  .......................................... 16 Alexandrian syncretism  ....................................................................... 17 the Greek temples  .......................................................................... 17 Isis and sarapis  .................................................................................. 17 the syncretism of the necropolis  ............................................... 19 From Royal Cult to Imperial Cult  ................................................ 20 How egypt Became Roman  ................................................................ 21 II Being Jewish in Alexandria in Philo’s Day  ..................................... 27 A Distinguished Family  ........................................................................ 27 Between “Metropolis” and “Fatherland”: the Diaspora  ............. 31 “If I Forget thee, o Jerusalem”  .......................................................... 35 Between Greeks and egyptians  ......................................................... 40 Proselytes and Renegades  ................................................................... 45 A Fragile Minority  ................................................................................. 48 III Philo’s Cultural World  .......................................................................... 53 Hellenised Jews ....................................................................................... 53 Philo’s education  ................................................................................... 54 Greek or Hebrew?  .................................................................................. 58 the septuagint translation  ................................................................ 59 viii contents Philo and the Miracle of the Greek Bible  ...................................... 63 Jew and Greek: “The Judaeo-Hellenistic Symbiosis”  and its Limits  ..................................................................................... 66 IV Amid Political Turmoil  ........................................................................ 69 Early Warning Signals  .......................................................................... 70 When the Mob Seizes Power  ............................................................. 71 Confronting the Tyrant  ........................................................................ 78 V Judaism According to Philo: Practice and Ethics  ........................ 91 Exterior Criteria for the Jewish Identity  ......................................... 92 Circumcision  ........................................................................................... 95 The Dietary Laws  ................................................................................... 97 The Sabbath  ............................................................................................. 99 Passover in Egypt  ................................................................................... 104 The Two Other Feasts of Pilgrimage ................................................ 107 The Great Fast  ........................................................................................ 109 The Universalist Interpretation  ......................................................... 112 VI The Biblical Commentary  ................................................................... 117 Philo’s Treatises and the Bible  ........................................................... 117 On the Necessity of Exegesis  .............................................................. 122 The Bible of Philo  .................................................................................. 124 Questions and Answers  ....................................................................... 127 The Creation of the World  .................................................................. 128 Man, Woman and the Serpent  .......................................................... 131 The Problem of Evil: Cain and Abel  ................................................ 132 The Models in Humanity  .................................................................... 133  The First Triad and Noah  ............................................................... 133  The Second Triad and Abraham  .................................................. 135 From Joseph to Moses: The Ideal Leader  ....................................... 139 The Decalogue and the Laws of Moses  ........................................... 145 The Exegetical Invention of Philo  .................................................... 149  The Variety of Ways  ......................................................................... 149  “God is not Like Man”  ..................................................................... 151  Are there Myths in the Bible?  ....................................................... 152 Philo and the Midrash  .......................................................................... 154 VII Philo and Philosophy  ............................................................................ 159 Contemplation and Philosophy  ........................................................ 159 contents ix Philo and the Greek Philosophical Schools  ................................ 161 When Philo “Platonises”  .................................................................... 164 “Everything is Number” (Pythagoras)  ........................................... 165 Philo, a Stoic?  ....................................................................................... 169 Barbarian Wisdoms: Essenes and Therapeutes  ......................... 171 Is Philo a Philosopher?  ...................................................................... 175 The “True” Philosophy  ....................................................................... 177 VIII Philo’s Doctrine  ................................................................................... 181 God, Logos and Powers  ..................................................................... 181 Law of Nature, Law of Moses  .......................................................... 188 “Migration” and Spiritual Progress  ................................................. 190 Political Theory: In Praise of Democracy  .................................... 192 The Destiny of the Soul  ..................................................................... 196 The Sojourner on Earth  ..................................................................... 199 IX Philo, ‘Father of the Church Honoris Causa’ ............................... 201 Philo and the Beginnings of Christianity  ..................................... 201 The Septuagint, an Inspired Text  ................................................... 204 Philo and the Development of Christianity in Alexandria  .... 206 Philo in Caesarea  ................................................................................. 210 Ambrose the “Latin Philo”  ................................................................ 213 Philo as a “Christian Source”: From Translations to  Printed Editions  .............................................................................. 214 Philo Judaeus  ........................................................................................ 218 Conclusion: The Philonic Heritage  ................................................ 221 Requiem  ............................................................................................................. 223 Bibliography  ..................................................................................................... 225 Index of Ancient Authors and Texts ......................................................... 231 Index of Philonic Passages  ........................................................................... 235