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| THE CHRONICLE
EXCERPTS OF NEW BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY | EXCERPTS OF NEW BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY
philosophy. The volume concludes with a section
devoted to Philo’s influence and significance.
Philo of Alexandria (ca. 15 BCE – 45 CE)
stands at the crossroads of three great civiliza-
tions of antiquity: the Judaic, the Greek, and
the Christian. Philo’s primary heritage was that
of biblical Judaism, but in the form it had
taken on in the Diaspora of the Hellenistic
world. His chief literary medium was biblical
exegesis, but he sought to interpret the Scrip-
tures by reference to the most advanced and
sophisticated systems of thought of the times,
which were those of Greek philosophy. In the-
ology and what was called ‘physics,’ the system
of primary importance for Philo was that of
Platonism, and in ethics that of Stoicism. How-
ever, Philo’s attempt to assimilate biblical and
Greek thought often finds closer parallels in the
Christian world than in a Jewish or a pagan
environment. Indeed, Philo came to be appre-
ciated more by the later Christian Fathers than
by the Rabbis or the Greek philosophers of the
Roman imperial age. In view of his background
and influence, the writings of Philo are of fun-
damental importance for the understanding of
Judaism, for the history of Greek philosophy,
and for the study of early Christianity.
Within the context of the history of Greek
literature as well, Philo appears to have lived
across the span of the eras in more than simply
a chronological sense. For in his writings he
assumes many guises and, in a manner of speak-
ing, emerges as a representative of different
epochs. At times he is a man of science or a
practitioner of the technical disciplines such as
grammar and advanced literary study as they
had developed in Hellenistic times. At other
times, his moralizing diatribes and rhetorical
displays have much in common with the
popular philosophical literature of the early im-
perial age. And finally, his Platonistic religiosity
and focus on the quest for the transcendent
would appear to presage certain forms of
spirituality that we encounter in later antiquity,
in the Hermetic literature, in the Chaldean
Oracles, and in Gnosticism. Of course, Philo’s
erudition was vast and he drew on an extraor-
dinary array of sources. He knew not only
secular Greek literature, but also owed much to
a previous tradition of biblical exegesis, no
doubt that of Greek-speaking Judaism, which
he characterizes only in the most general of
terms, without naming names. In fact, Philo’s
dependence on earlier authorities was such that
some would study him, as A.D. Nock has put
it, ‘primarily as a source rather than as a man’
(
Essays on Religion and the AncientWorld
[1972],
II, p. 559). Nevertheless, this circumstance
alone cannot account for the great variety in the
Philonic corpus. It must also be put down to
the breadth of Philo’s interests and horizons and
to his versatility as a writer. His works represent
a most interesting specimen of Greek literature.
Philo’s bicultural heritage in Judaism and
Hellenism, however, and even his proximity to
Christian thought can make him a perplexing
author to read. And the sheer bulk and variety
of the Philonic corpus make it a difficult sea
to navigate. Thus, the role for an up-to-date
handbook of this sort. Of course, a handbook
of moderate size cannot address all the aspects
of Philo’s works, nor can it be a substitute for
reading those works directly, which, it may be
acknowledged, is not always an easy or pleasant
experience. But this
Companion
endeavors to
supply some essential introductory information
in a clear and unassuming format that can turn
that experience into less of a struggle. While it
is introductory, the
Companion
goes beyond the
elementary level. The chapters are intended to
provide not only a sense of recent progress in
the scholarship on Philo, but also a certain vi-
sion of the topics under consideration.
[
Reprinted with permission of Cambridge University
Press]
Memory and Tradition in the
Book of Numbers
Adriane Leveen,
Cambridge University
Press, 2008
I
n this book, Adriane Leveen offers an imagi-
native rereading of the fourth book of Moses.
Leveen examines how the editors of Numbers
crafted a narrative of the forty-year journey
through the wilderness in order to shape the Is-
raelite understanding of the past and influence
the world-view of future generations. Leveen’s
book explores religious politics, the complexities
of collective memory, and the literary strategies
used by the editors of Numbers to convince the
children of Israel to accept priestly rule. Leveen
considers how this process took place in the
face of the horrifying memory at the heart of the
Book of Numbers: the death of an entire gener-
ation of Israelites in the wilderness, struck down
before their children’s eyes by divine decree.
As the site of oppression and of God's lib-
erating acts, Egypt should obligate the people
in the present to live a future life in accord with
God's plans for them. This is the assumption of
the first section of Numbers. They take unfa-
miliar steps forward in an unfamiliar terrain
towards the one site worth possessing – the
promised land. The path is dedicated to a new
life as God, Moses, and the priests lead them.
is Professor of Judeo-Hellenistic Literature
at HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, where he served
as Director of the School of Graduate Studies from 1997 to 2007. His primary re-
search interests relate to the interactions between Judaism and the Greco-Roman
world, and between Judaism and early Christianity. His extensive publications include
The Cambridge Companion to Philo
and
Jerome, Greek Scholarship, and the Hebrew
Bible.
Dr. Adam Kamesar
