traNSLatioN aND coNqueSt • 209egypt during the time of antiochus,^89 Moyal turns to the topic of cul-
tural exchange between the Jews and the Greeks:
When the assimilation [ikhtilāṭ] of the Jews among the Greeks
increased, the two groups exchanged their sciences and ideas.
Yet the israelite religious philosophy influenced the Greek phi-
losophy more than the Greek philosophy influenced the israelite
religion. this was because the alexandrian Israelites accepted,
with great pleasure and delight, the philosophy of plato, which
was widespread at the time. they began to reconcile it with the
torah and they worked hard to explain the anthropomorphic ex-
pressions as symbols and signs (allegory), according to the custom
of the Greeks.^90there seems to be some confusion in this passage. Moyal insists that
“the israelite religious philosophy” more substantially influenced
“Greek philosophy” than vice versa, but the discussion that follows ap-
pears to highlight precisely the opposite: the influence of Greek philos-
ophy. Whether this muddle can be ascribed to Moyal’s concern about
the sensibilities of contemporary Jewish readers,^91 a typographical
error, an inconsistency within his sources, or something else entirely,
the matter of the direction of net influence between Greek and “isra-
elite” philosophy does not appear to be at the core of Moyal’s interest
in this discussion.
rather, Moyal’s concern here seems to be identifying the (hellenis-
tic) Jewish roots of christianity, an identification that simultaneously
serves apologetic and polemic purposes vis- à- vis Christianity. he ex-
plains that philo of alexandria was “the one who first created the term
logos,” which Moyal immediately notes is “the term paul the apostle
used in the New testament.”^92 Similarly, according to Moyal, philo
introduced the term paraclete, “which also appears in the Gospels.”
these terms “indicate the presence of an intermediate power,” an idea
that “the Christian Church Fathers [ābāʾ al- kanīsa al- masīḥiyya] who
lived shortly after him [philo] learned from him.” through his writing
communal leaders, so it is likely that he was particularly interested in, and familiar with,
the history of ancient alexandria.
(^89) Concerning Moyal’s claim that the Israelites in egypt “enjoyed civil rights similar to
the rights of the Greeks themselves,” cf. Graetz, History of the Jews, 1:503.
(^90) Mūyāl, at- Talmūd, 52. Moyal transliterates the word “allegory” into arabic.
(^91) this would seem unlikely, however, given Moyal’s pride in expressing views not
consistent with those of the Jewish religious establishment. See, e.g., Moyal’s discussion
of the compilation of the Zohar in ibid., 119.
(^92) Moyal uses the term al- injīl here. though translated literally as “the gospel,” al- injīl
is used by Moyal (not exceptionally) to refer to the New testament more broadly.