Philo of Alexandria

Life

Philo is believed to have been born into a wealthy Jewish family in Alexandria, Egypt. The exact years of his birth and death are not recorded. His brother Alexander served as alabarch, a customs official in Alexandria. His nephew Tiberius Julius Alexander became a Roman official and served as procurator of Judea. Philo received a Greek education and was well versed in Greek philosophy. Many scholars, however, hold that he was not proficient in Hebrew.

In AD 38, riots directed against the Jews broke out in Alexandria. In response, Philo led a delegation from the Jewish community to the Roman emperor Gaius (Caligula). This episode is recorded in his work On the Embassy to Gaius and in the writings of the historian Josephus. He is thought to have died around AD 50.

Work and Achievements

Philo produced a large body of writings interpreting the Pentateuch on the basis of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. His exegesis is characterized by allegorical interpretation, a method that seeks the philosophical and moral meaning hidden behind the literal sense of the text. Using this method, Philo read the figures of Genesis as symbols of states of the soul or of particular virtues.

He spoke of the Logos (Word, Reason) as the mediator between God and the world. This idea joined concepts from Platonic and Stoic philosophy with the Jewish faith. In On the Contemplative Life he described the Therapeutae, an ascetic community in Egypt, and in other writings he described the Essenes. These accounts are important sources for the study of the Intertestamental Period and first-century Judaism. His writings were preserved and transmitted chiefly by Christians rather than within Judaism.

Influence on the Korean Church

Philo was not a Christian and has no direct connection with the Korean church. Nevertheless, in courses on the history of biblical interpretation and on church history in Korean seminaries, he is presented as a source of the allegorical interpretation employed by the Alexandrian school. He is also cited for comparison in commentary on the "Word" (Logos) of John 1 and on the Epistle to the Hebrews. In preaching, he is sometimes mentioned as a historical example when warning against interpretations that read a text in an excessively symbolic manner.

Assessment

Philo is regarded as a thinker who systematically connected the Jewish faith with Greek philosophy. His interpretive method influenced the biblical interpretation of early Church Fathers such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen. The fourth-century church historian Eusebius regarded the Therapeutae described by Philo as early Christians, but modern scholarship generally considers them a Jewish community.

Philo has also drawn criticism. Since the Reformation, the Protestant interpretive tradition has emphasized the grammatical and historical meaning of the text. Within this tradition, allegorical interpretation has been seen as obscuring the original meaning of the text.

Opinions also differ on his relationship to the Gospel of John. Some scholars hold that John was influenced by Philo's concept of the Logos. Others maintain that John's Logos, as a personal being who became flesh (the Incarnation), differs fundamentally from Philo's philosophical concept of a mediator. The extent of his influence on the Epistle to the Hebrews is likewise debated among scholars.