Description

The Jewish exegete and philosopher Philo of Alexandria (ca. 15 BCE - ca. 50 CE) has left behind by far the largest surviving body of writings of Greek speaking Judaism. Deeply loyal to his own Jewish community, Philo nevertheless has an open stance towards Greek philosophy and uses its ideas to develop his own thought as he expounds the scriptural text. The present volume brings together a collection of essays by David T. Runia on Philonic thought published between 1997 to 2021. In the first section, two introductory studies show the breadth of relevant understanding that Philo has for seven sub-disciplines of ancient and patristic studies. The essays in the second section examine Philo's knowledge of and use of Greek philosophy. One of these, Philo's reception of Plato's Phaedo, has not yet been published in English. Further studies focus on biblical interpretation in an Alexandrian context and explore theological themes relating to theodicy, divine power, and human hope. Finally, another seven studies give close readings of key Philonic texts.