20 BC – AD 50

Philo of Alexandria: Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture

The Alexandrian thinker Philo wrote a detailed commentary on the five books of the Law and sought to interpret the Jewish Scriptures so that they would be compatible with the teaching of the Academy. According to Philo, the Scriptures teach the same as Plato, but use allegories; the task of the wise interpreter is to find the eternal meaning behind them. Ideas unacceptable to Greek philosophy (especially the concept of God), inaccurate historical information and impossible laws were explained as allegories with a spiritual meaning – just as the Stoics justified the indecent deeds of the gods in Homer. At the same time Philo did not deny the literal meaning of the Law.