Text and Versions
The original work, written in Greek, consisted of six books for Genesis and
five (or perhaps six) books for Exodus. The part on Exodus is recorded as
such in the catalogue of Eusebius, but less than a century later only two of
the five books had survived. The original Greek text of the work has been
lost. For our knowledge of the surviving work, we are chiefly dependent on
an Armenian translation made in sixth-century Byzantium.
Because the Armenian translators of the so-called Hellenizing school
made a word-for-word translation, their version can give us a reasonably
accurate impression of the original. In the edition of the Armenian text
(with Latin translation) by Aucher (1826) and in modern translations, the
Questions on Genesishas four books, but the fourth book contains books 4,
5, and 6 of the original division. There is also a rather idiosyncratic Latin
translation of book 6 dating to the late fourth century, which contains
twelve sections missing in the Armenian version. Numerous fragments of
the original Greek have been preserved in patristic excerpt collections such
as theCatenaeand theFlorilegia.These have been expertly collected and
edited by Petit (1978), who also edited the Latin translation (1973). Two
short extracts have been preserved in Greek manuscripts (QG2.1-7;QE
2.62-68).Contents
Genesis is dealt with as follows: book 1 treats Gen. 2:4–6:13 (100 questions);
book 2, Gen. 6:14–10:9 (82); book 3, Gen. 15:7–17:27 (62); book 4 (Armenian
4.1-70), Gen. 18:1–22:18 (70); book 5 (Armenian 4.71-153), Gen. 23:1–25:18
(83); book 6 (Armenian 4.154-245 and Latin additions), Gen. 25:19–28:9 (92
+ 12). The remains of the Exodus commentary are: book 1 on Exod. 12:2-23
(23 questions); book 2 on Exod. 20:25–28:34 (124 questions). Marcus (1953),
followed by Royse (1976-1977), has noted the remarkable parallels between
the scriptural coverage of Philo’s books and the weekly readings(parašiy-
yôt)of the Pentateuch in the annual cycle of the Babylonian synagogue.
This suggests similar readings in the Alexandrian synagogues; that is,
Philo’s work may have covered six weekly readings for Genesis and five (or
six) for Exodus. There is no evidence that the work extended to the re-
maining books of the Pentateuch.261
PhiloEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:07 PM