Book Description

Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE.--50 CE.) stood at the crossroads of ancient history. Philo was the first pioneer to integrate Judaic thought with the Stoic, Platonic, and Pythagorean philosophical traditions. This Alexandrian Jewish philosopher assembled the very first philosophical, ethical, psychological, exegetical, and theological commentary on the Torah. As his community’s most prestigious Jewish leader, he defended Alexandrian Jews from the attacks of anti-Semites, and met with the capricious Roman Emperor Caligula, calling upon him to respect the ethical monotheistic beliefs of the Jewish people. As with Josephus, Philo bears witness to the world’s first protomodern and intellectual Jewish community of Alexandria, the cultural center of Late Antiquity. Reclaiming Philo as a Jewish exegete puts him in company with other great luminaries of Jewish history. Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel has meticulously culled from all of Philo’s exegetical remarks, arranging them according to the biblical verses. He provides extensive parallels from the corpus of rabbinical literature, Greek philosophy, and Christian theology in presenting how Philo impacted the great minds of Late Antiquity and beyond. I do see the value of having Philo’s comments on the Pentateuch accessible in this form…all this is done to make Philo speak to a contemporary reading audience. Torrey Seland, Ph.D. Review of Biblical Literature Rabbi Samuel has done an outstanding service to Philo and to modern readers. In Rediscovering Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Jewish Commentator, Philo’s ancient Torah commentary becomes readable and meaningful, exciting and contemporary Rabbi Ari Kahn, Bar Ilan University, Author of Echoes of Eden Philo of Alexandria was the most prolific writer of Hellenistic Judaism in the early first century. Yet, his works have often remained unknown, unread, inaccessible or obscure to many Jewish and Christian readers. Rabbi Samuel’s new series, Philo of Alexandria: A First Century Jewish Commentator “cuts to the chase” by conveying the thinking of Philo in a relevant, down-to-earth manner that both scholar and layperson can easily grasp and appreciate. Enhanced by an abundance of cross-references and scholarly notes, this commentary provides new insight and angles of a theological conversation useful to anyone intrigued by this first-century Jewish thinker and exegete. Dr. Marvin Wilson, Gordon College, Author of Exploring Our Hebraic Heritage: A Christian Theology of Roots and Renewal “This is an excellent introduction into the thinking of a significant philosopher… Rabbi Samuel offers readers a biography of Philo and explains, with notes, what Philo is saying, thereby making his book not only very informative but very readable” Rabbi Israel Drazin, Author of Onkelos on the Torah: Understanding the Biblical Text