Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

Genesis as well as Plato’sTimaeus,Philo stresses that Moses and the Greek

philosopher perceived the true nature of the creator God, who is active and

transcending the material world, but taking providential care of His cre-

ation (Opif.8–22). Most scholars today recognize that, according to Philo,

God’s creation of the world was notex nihilo.Living in an age when this

notion did not yet exist, Philo rather assumed that God’s creation consists

in actively shaping the preexistent, passive material (Opif.8–12).

Another issue of fundamental importance is discussed in the treatise

on the creation: the nature and origin of mankind. Philo is the first

known exegete to give serious attention to the crux of the two creation

stories: one depicts man created together with woman in the image of

God, while the other envisions man as having been created from the

earth, but endowed with the divine spirit, while Eve was created second-

arily, being molded from Adam’s ribs. Philo suggests a reconciliation of

these two stories, arguing that they refer to different types of man. While

the first story describes, in his view, the ideal type of man, perfectly ratio-

nal and sexless, the second speaks about the earthly type as a copy of the

ideal man (Opif.69–71, 134–35). While it is generally agreed that Philo em-

ploys the Platonic categories of ideal and copy, it is still disputed to what

extent his exegesis betrays a particularly misogynist perspective. Does his

discussion of the ideal type not imply male categories, constructing the

archetype of man in masculine terms? Furthermore, does his praise of the

earthly Adam, before “woman becomes for him the beginning of blame-

worthy life” (Opif.51), not indicate a substantial rejection of women and

femininity? Winston has countered these interpretations by proposing

that we interpret such passages in their proper context. Philo, he stresses,

also praises the “fellowship” between husband and wife (Opif.152), while,

more generally, his views on women are shared by many ancient writers

(Winston 1998).

On Abraham (De Abrahamo)andOn Joseph (De Iosepho)

The second part of Philo’sExpositionis devoted to a biographical treat-

ment of the major Israelite patriarchs. Philo’s lives of the patriarchs are no

longer fully extant. While the biographies of Abraham and Joseph are still

available, those of Jacob and Isaac have unfortunately not survived. In tell-

ing the lives of the patriarchs, Philo was intrigued by the connection be-

tween a person’s character and his actions. He was keen to show how traces

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sterling, runia, niehoff, and van den hoek

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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