The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures in Five Minutes - Philippe Guillaume
35. Was Philo of Alexandria the Earliest Biblical Commentator?
The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures in Five Minutes - Philippe Guillaume
Maria Sokolskaya [+]
Maria Sokolskaya holds a Doctorate in Theology from the University of Berne. Her research includes the Septuagint, the Letter of Aristeas, and Philo of Alexandria. She has published Die griechische Bibel in Alexandrien: Ihre Legende und die exegetische Praxis im hellenistischen Judentum (Leiden: Brill, 2022); “Meals in the Works of Philo of Alexandria,” in T&T Clark Handbook to Early Christian Meals in the Greco-Roman World, Edited by Soham Al-Suadi and Peter Ben-Smit (London: Bloomsbury, 2019), 9–18; “Was Demetrius of Phalerum the Founder of the Alexandrian Library?” in Alexandria: Hub of the Hellenistic World, Edited by Benjamin Schliesser, Jan Rüggemeier, Thomas J. Kraus, and Jörg Frey (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2021), 81–95.
Description
A contemporary of Saul of Tarsus, Philo of Alexandria was as versed in Greek philosophy as Saul/Paul. Philo’s literary output was first transmitted by Christians, particularly his multiple-meaning exegesis, though it reflects a genuine Jewish tradition of biblical interpretation.