Regarding the relationship between Philon and the Stoics

Abstract

Despite the large number of Philonic passages collected by H. von Arnim in his edition of the Stoic fragments, Philon should not be considered as a neutral source for the Stoic philosophy, since he reviews from his own standpoint the texts on which he draws, on both exegetical and philosophical grounds. In terms of the exegesis we should keep in mind the biblical narrative, while the Stoic elements in Philon’s thought are often philosophically subservient to a transcendent Platonic perspective, which represented Philon’s framework for the most profound meaning of his biblical theology. He does not, nevertheless, falsify Stoic thought, as the philosophical ground (e.g. the unity and the «many ways of being» of God, which involves the theory of the ????????) of Stoic allegory is not rejected. The autor draws these conclusions after an analysis of Opif. 8 = SVF II 302; Sacrif 68 = SVF II 453; LA II 22 = SVF II 458; Opif 26 = SVF II 511, 512; Migrat 178 f. = SVF II 532; Migrat. 180 = SVF II 532; Opif 66 f. = SVF II 722, 745; Confus 156= SVF II 664; Spec. I 32 = SVF II 1010.