Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Church History of Eusebius/Book II/Chapter 18

The Works of Philo that have come down to us.

1. in language, comprehensive in thought, sublime and elevated in his views of divine Scripture, Philo has produced manifold and various expositions of the sacred books. On the one hand, he expounds in order the events recorded in Genesis in the books to which he gives the title Allegories of the Sacred Laws; on the other hand, he makes successive divisions of the chapters in the Scriptures which are the subject of investigation, and gives objections and solutions, in the books which he quite suitably calls Questions and Answers on Genesis and Exodus.

2. There are, besides these, treatises expressly worked out by him on certain subjects, such as the two books On Agriculture, and the same number On Drunkenness; and some others distinguished by different titles corresponding to the contents of each; for instance, Concerning the things which the Sober Mind desires and execrates, On the Confusion of Tongues, On Flight and Discovery, On Assembly for the sake of Instruction, On the question, &#8216;Who is heir to things divine?&#8217; or On the division of things into equal and unequal, and still further the work On the three Virtues which with others have been described by Moses. &#960;&#949;&#961;&#8054; &#964;&#8182;&#957; &#964;&#961;&#953;&#8182;&#957; &#7936;&#961;&#949;&#964;&#8182;&#957;, &#7939;&#962; &#963;&#8058;&#957; &#7940;&#955;&#955;&#945;&#953;&#962; &#7936;&#957;&#8051;&#947;&#961;&#945;&#968;&#949; &#924;&#969;&#965;&#963;&#8134;&#962;. This work is still extant, and is given by Mangey under the title &#960;&#949;&#961;&#8054; &#964;&#961;&#953;&#8182;&#957; &#7936;&#961;&#949;&#964;&#8182;&#957; &#7972;&#964;&#959;&#953; &#960;&#949;&#961;&#8054; &#7936;&#957;&#948;&#961;&#949;&#8055;&#945;&#962; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#966;&#953;&#955;&#945;&#957;&#952;&#961;&#969;&#960;&#8055;&#945;&#962; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#956;&#949;&#964;&#945;&#957;&#959;&#8055;&#945;&#962;: &#960;&#949;&#961;&#8054; &#7936;&#957;&#948;&#961;&#949;&#8055;&#945;&#962;, II. 375&#8211;383; &#960;&#949;&#961;&#8054; &#966;&#953;&#955;&#945;&#957;&#952;&#961;&#969;&#960;&#8055;&#945;&#962;, II. 383&#8211;405; &#960;&#949;&#961;&#8054; &#956;&#949;&#964;&#945;&#957;&#959;&#8055;&#945;&#962;, II. 405&#8211;407. Jerome gives the simple title De tribus virtutibus liber unus.

According to Sch&#252;rer (p. 852 sqq.) it forms an appendix to the third great group of works upon the Pentateuch, containing those laws which do not belong to any one of the ten commandments in particular, but fall under the head of general cardinal virtues. The third group, as Sch&#252;rer describes it (p. 846), aims to give for non-Jews a complete view of the Mosaic legislation, and embraces, first, the work upon the Creation (which in the and editions of Philo is wrongly placed at the beginning in connection with the great Allegorical Commentary, and is thus included in that by Eusebius in his list of Philo&#8217;s works, so that he does not make special mention of it); second, the lives of great and good men, the living unwritten law; and third, the Mosaic legislation proper (1. The ten commandments; 2. The special laws connected with each of these); and finally an appendix treating of certain cardinal virtues, and of reward and punishments. This group is more historic and less allegoric than the two others, which are rather esoteric and scientific.

3. In addition to these is the work On those whose Names have been changed and why they have been changed, in which he says that he had written also two books On Covenants. &#7952;&#957; &#8103; &#966;&#951;&#963;&#953; &#963;&#965;&#957;&#964;&#949;&#964;&#945;&#967;&#8051;&#957;&#945;&#953; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#960;&#949;&#961;&#953; &#948;&#953;&#945;&#952;&#951;&#954;&#8182;&#957; &#960;&#961;&#8182;&#964;&#959;&#957; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#948;&#949;&#8059;&#964;&#949;&#961;&#959;&#957;. Nearly all the, followed by some of the editors, read &#960;&#961;&#8061;&#964;&#951;&#962; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#948;&#949;&#965;&#964;&#8051;&#961;&#945;&#962;, instead of &#960;&#961;&#8182;&#964;&#959;&#957; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#948;&#949;&#8059;&#964;&#949;&#961;&#959;&#957;, thus making Eusebius mention a work &#8220;On the first and second covenants,&#8221; instead of a first and second book &#8220;On the covenants.&#8221; It is plain from Philo&#8217;s own reference to the work (on p. 586 in Mangey&#8217;s ed.) that he wrote two books &#8220;On covenants,&#8221; and not a work &#8220;On the two covenants.&#8221; I have therefore felt warranted in reading with Heinichen and some other editors &#960;&#961;&#8182;&#964;&#959;&#957; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#948;&#949;&#8059;&#964;&#949;&#961;&#959;&#957;, a reading which is more natural in view of the absence of an article with &#948;&#953;&#945;&#952;&#951;&#954;&#8182;&#957;, and which is confirmed by Nicephorus Callistus. This reading must be correct unless we are to suppose that Eusebius misread Philo. Fabricius suggests that Eusebius probably wrote &#8048; &#954;&#945;&#8054; &#946;', which the copyists wrongly referred to the &#8220;covenants&#8221; instead of to the number of the books, and hence gave the feminine instead of the neuter form.

This work &#8220;On covenants,&#8221; or &#8220;On the whole discussion concerning covenants&#8221; (as Philo gives it), is now lost, as it was already in the time of Eusebius; at least he knew of it only from Philo&#8217;s reference to it. See Sch&#252;rer, p. 845.

4. And there is also a work of his On Emigration, and one On the life of a Wise Man made perfect in Righteousness, or On unwritten Laws; and still further the work On Giants or On the Immutability of God, and a first, second, third, fourth and fifth book On the proposition, that Dreams according to Moses are sent by God. These are the books on Genesis that have come down to us.

5. But on Exodus we are acquainted with the first, second, third, fourth and fifth books of Questions and Answers; also with that On the Tabernacle, and that On the Ten Commandments, and the four books On the laws which refer especially to the principal divisions of the ten Commandments, and another On animals intended for sacrifice and On the kinds of sacrifice, and another On the rewards fixed in the law for the good, and on the punishments and curses fixed for the wicked.

6. In addition to all these there are extant also some single-volumed works of his; as for instance, the work On Providence, and the book composed by him On the Jews, and The Statesman; and still further, Alexander, or On the possession of reason by the irrational animals. Besides these there is a work On the proposition that every wicked man is a slave, to which is subjoined the work On the proposition that every goad man is free.

7. After these was composed by him the work On the contemplative life, or On suppliants, from which we have drawn the facts concerning the life of the apostolic men; and still further, the Interpretation of the Hebrew names in the law and in the prophets are said to be the result of his industry.

8. And he is said to have read in the presence of the whole Roman Senate during the reign of Claudius the work which he had written, when he came to Rome under Caius, concerning Caius&#8217; hatred of the gods, and to which, with ironical reference to its character, he had given the title On the Virtues. And his discourses were so much admired as to be deemed worthy of a place in the libraries.

9. At this time, while Paul was completing his journey &#8220;from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum,&#8221; Claudius drove the Jews out of Rome; and Aquila and Priscilla, leaving Rome with the other Jews, came to Asia, and there abode with the apostle Paul, who was confirming the churches of that region whose foundations he had newly laid. The sacred book of the Acts informs us also of these things.