Philo Iudaeus
c. 25 BC – c. 50 AD
Philo was born around 25 BC into one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Alexandria — his brother Alexander was alabarch (tax collector) of the city, and his nephew Tiberius Julius Alexander later became prefect of Egypt and played a decisive role in Vespasian's accession. Philo himself received a thorough Greek education alongside his Jewish learning, and his life's work was the reconciliation of the two: reading the Torah through the lens of Platonic and Stoic philosophy.
His surviving works — over forty treatises — include allegorical commentaries on Genesis and Exodus, philosophical essays on the creation of the world and the contemplative life, and the historical Against Flaccus and Embassy to Gaius, which describe the persecution of Alexandrian Jews under Caligula. In 40 AD, Philo led a delegation to Rome to petition Caligula for Jewish rights — the only securely dated event in his life. He was already an old man.
Philo had little direct influence on rabbinic Judaism, but his impact on Christianity was enormous. The early Church Fathers — Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Ambrose — adopted his allegorical method wholesale. His concept of the Logos as divine intermediary shaped the theology of the Gospel of John. Eusebius preserved his works precisely because Christians found them useful. He died around AD 50.
Philo's philosophical biography of Abraham, the first patriarch. He reads Abraham's journey from Chaldea to Canaan as an allegory of the soul's progre...
Philo's treatise arguing that the world is eternal and indestructible. Drawing on Platonic and Aristotelian arguments, he examines whether the cosmos...
An allegorical commentary on Genesis 9:20, "Noah began to be a farmer." Philo reads agriculture as a metaphor for the cultivation of virtue, contrasti...
An allegorical commentary on the cherubim and the flaming sword placed at the entrance to Eden. Philo interprets these as symbols of God's creative an...
An allegorical commentary on the confusion of languages at Babel. Philo reads the story as an exploration of the relationship between language, though...
An allegorical treatise on the encounter between Abraham and Hagar, reading it as the soul's preliminary engagement with secular learning before ascen...
Philo's exposition of the Ten Commandments as the fundamental principles of Jewish law. He treats the Decalogue as a summary of all specific legislati...
An allegorical commentary on Genesis 9:21, "Noah became drunk." Philo uses the story to explore two kinds of intoxication — the folly of vice and the...
An allegorical commentary on the flight and finding of Hagar, reading it as an account of the soul's flight from vice and its discovery by divine grac...
A brief allegorical treatise on the giants of Genesis 6:1-4. Philo interprets the "sons of God" and the "daughters of men" as representations of diffe...
Philo's life of Joseph, the patriarch who became viceroy of Egypt. Philo presents Joseph as the model of the statesman — the practical man of affairs...
An allegorical commentary on Abraham's migration from Haran. Philo reads the journey as the soul's departure from the world of the senses toward the r...
An allegorical commentary on the changing of names in Genesis — Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel. Philo argues that each name-change...
Philo's commentary on the creation of the world as described in Genesis. He reads the creation narrative through Platonic philosophy, arguing that God...
An allegorical commentary on Genesis 9:20, reading Noah's planting of a vineyard as a metaphor for the soul's cultivation of virtue. Philo explores th...
An allegorical commentary on the posterity of Cain. Philo examines the descendants of Cain as representations of the soul's attachment to pleasure and...
Philo's treatise on the rewards promised to the virtuous and the punishments that await the wicked. He reads the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy a...
An allegorical commentary on the sacrifices of Abel and Cain. Philo explores why God accepts Abel's offering and rejects Cain's, reading the story as...
An allegorical commentary on Noah's sobriety after his drunkenness. Philo examines the recovery of reason after passion, and the blessings and curses...
An allegorical commentary on the dreams of Joseph, the butler, and the baker in Genesis. Philo treats dreams as a form of divine communication, classi...
Philo's detailed exposition of Jewish law across four books, covering the individual statutes that fall under the Ten Commandments. He organises the s...
A treatise on the virtues as exemplified in the Mosaic legislation. Philo examines courage, piety, humanity, and repentance as they are taught and emb...
Philo's account of the Therapeutae, a Jewish contemplative community near Alexandria. He describes their ascetic way of life, communal meals, and devo...
Philo's biography of Moses across two books, presenting him as the ideal king, lawgiver, priest, and prophet. Philo portrays Moses as the greatest of...
Philo's account of the persecution of the Jews of Alexandria under the Roman prefect Flaccus. A vivid historical narrative of mob violence, political...
Philo's account of the Jewish embassy to the emperor Gaius Caligula in 39-40 CE, which he led personally. A gripping historical narrative of a communi...
The first three books of Philo's allegorical commentary on Genesis, interpreting the creation of man, the Garden of Eden, and the expulsion as an elab...
An allegorical treatise on the question "Who is the heir of divine things?" Philo reads the covenant between God and Abraham as an account of how the...
An allegorical commentary on Cain's attack on Abel, reading it as the soul's vulnerability to the assaults of vice. Philo explores how the worse part...
A treatise arguing for the immutability of God. Philo addresses the anthropomorphic language of the Torah — God's anger, repentance, walking in the Ga...
Philo's argument that every virtuous person is truly free. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, he contends that external slavery is irrelevant to real freedo...