Philo
of Alexandria
Jean Daniélou
Translated by
James G. Colbert
PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA
Copyright © 2014 Wipf and Stock Publishers. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Originally published in French as Philon d’Alexandrie by Editions du Cerf.
Translation of Jean Daniélou, Philon d’Alexandrie, Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1958.
Cascade Books
An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers
199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
Eugene, OR 97401
www.wipfandstock.com
isbn 13: 978-1-62564-429-9
eisbn 13: 978-1-63087-195-6
Cataloging-in-Publication data:
Daniélou, Jean
Philo of Alexandria / Jean Daniélou. Translated by James G. Colbert.
xvii + 184 p. ; 23 cm. —Includes bibliographical references.
isbn 13: 978-1-62564-429-9
1. Philo, of Alexandria. I. Title.
B689 Z7 D48 2014
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
To María
Translator’s Preface
Erwin Goodenough remarks, “There is no important writer of antiquity who has been so little studied as Philo Judaeus . . . no one seems to have tried to read Philo, if I may say so, with the grain instead of against it, to understand what Philo himself thought he was driving at in all his passionate allegorical labors.”1 Goodenough himself and even more Harry Austryn Wolfson did an enormous amount to remedy this lack. Of course, since Goodenough and Wolfson, scholarly monographs on Philo continue to appear, and Richard Schenk has recently authored A Brief Guide to Philo. Daniélou’s Philo of Alexandria gives us a historical, philosophical, and religious context of Philo. We almost know him personally by the end.
If it is generally appropriate when translating to give the author’s important sources as they appear in published English translations, this is particularly true for Daniélou, who sometimes does not indicate ellipses or who occasionally paraphrases, though using quotation marks. The English speaking world is fortunate to have the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge: Harvard University Press and London: W. Heinemann, 1971–91 (for the set I consulted). Philo’s treatise consists of ten volumes in Greek and English and two volumes in English only that are supplements containing treatises preserved in Ancient Armenian translations. The English translation of volumes I–V is by F. H. Colson and G. H. Whitaker. The English translation of volumes VI–X is by F. H. Colson alone. Ralph Marcus did the translation from Armenian. To these I will refer by their Latin titles, books where applicable, and paragraphs as Daniélou does, adding the volume and page of the English translations, e.g. Philo, I, 1, or Philo, Appendix I, 1.
A useful one volume English translation is available in The Works of Philo, done in the nineteenth century by C. D. Yonge and recently updated and corrected by David Scholer.
Within quotations from Philo, material in square brackets is Daniélou’s, unless it is explicitly indicated that they are the translator’s. Material in curved parentheses appears in the Loeb version.
Incidentally, when checking Daniélou’s quotations against the Loeb version, I verified the Greek terms he sometimes includes in his quotations. Daniélou usually mention these terms in the nominative. Where terms appear within quotations, I have tried to present them in the case in which they actually are found in Philo.
Daniélou is not consistent in the abbreviations he uses to refer to Philo’s treatises. I have followed the Loeb for Latin names, made my own (hopefully transparent) contracted names, and generally followed the Loeb’s English with minor adaptations. I render Apologia pro Iudaeis as Apology for the Jews rather than the Loeb’s Hypothetica.
Incidentally, though Daniélou’s French text could have stood more editing, the Loeb also manages to refer to both De Congressu Querendae Eruditionis Gratiae and De Congressu Eruditionis Gratiae; to both Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Solet and Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Soleat, and both Quod Deus Immutabilis Sit and Quod Deus Sit Immutabilis. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!
Accordingly, the following columns give the Loeb’s Latin titles, my contractions, and the English name.
Volume I
| De Opificio Mundi | De Opificio | On Creation |
| Legum Allegoriae | Legum Allegoriae | Allegorical Interpretation |
Volume II
| De Cherubim | De Cherubim | On the Cherubim |
| De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini | De Sacrificiis | On the Sacrifice of Abel and Cain |
| Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari | Quod Deterius | The Worse Attacks the Better Soleat |
| De Posteritate Caini | De Posteritate | On the Posterity of Cain |
| De Gigantibus | De Gigantibus | On the Giants |
Volume III
| Quod Deus Immutabilis Sit | Quod Immutabilis | On the Unchangeableness of God |
| De Agricultura | De Agricultura | On Husbandry |
| De Plantatione | De Plantatione | On Noah’s Work as a Planter |
| De Ebrietate | De Ebrietate | On Drunkenness |
| De Sobrietate | De Sobrietate | On Sobriety |
Volume
