Allegory of an Allegory – Paul on Philo

[robert j]

Many expect too much of Paul’s logic, even though his letters are rife with fast-and-loose use of logic. Regardless, it often seemed to serve his aims.

Paul claimed to have predecessors in belief in his Jesus Christ. Setting that aside for now because we have nothing from those predecessors --- we only have Paul’s letters to pick-apart.

Paul’s use of allegorical readings of the Jewish scriptures is widely acknowledged. Paul even derived his calling by god from the scriptures ---

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles … (Galatians 1:15-16, NASB)

And a word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb, I had consecrated you; a prophet to nations I had made you.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5, LXX, NETS)

In Philo’s On the Confusion of Tongues, XIV. 60-63, it is widely accepted that the reference to the man named “East” is a reference to Zechariah 6:12, and that the passage is a result of Philo's allegorical readings of Genesis and Zechariah.

The table below demonstrates how Paul might have used an allegorical reading of an allegorical reading --- using Philo’s allegorical treatment of Zechariah 6:12, in combination with Zechariah and Isaiah, to compose the “Christ Hymn” of Philippians. The focus here is on Philo --- additional passages from the Jewish scriptures could be added to address other elements of Philippians 2:5-11.

Philippians 2:5-11	Philo --- between Zechariah and Isaiah
	And thou shalt take silver and gold, and make crowns, and thou shalt put [them] upon the head of Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest; and thou shalt say to him, Thus saith the Lord Almighty; "Behold the man whose name is east" (ἀνατολὴ -- rises, dawn ***); and he shall spring up from his stem, and build the house of the Lord. (Zechariah 6:11-12, LXX)
Let this mind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to cling to, but emptied himself, haven taken the form of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men. And having been found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself having become obedient unto death, even death of the cross. Therefore God highly exalted him, and granted to him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to glory of God the Father.	I have also heard of one of the disciples of Moses having uttered such a speech as this: "Behold, a man whose name is the East!" (ἀνατολὴ). A very novel appellation indeed, if you consider it as spoken of a man who is compounded of body and soul; but if you look upon it as applied to that incorporeal being who in no respect differs from the divine image, you will then agree that the name of the east has been given to him and describes him truly. For the Father of the universe has caused him to spring up as the eldest son, whom, in another passage, he calls the firstborn; and he who is thus born, imitating the ways of his father, has formed such and such species, looking to his archetypal patterns. (Philo, Confusion of Tongues, 62-63) ... Joshua means "the salvation of the Lord," being the name of the most excellent possible character ... (Philo, On the Change of Names,122)
	… to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall acknowledge God, saying, righteousness and glory shall come to him...(Isaiah 45:23-24, LXX)

Paul’s derivation of his Philippian “Christ Hymn” from Philo supports solutions, at least in part, to a couple of vexing Pauline problems. In both cases, a further development beyond Philo ---

First, it provides an explanation for Paul’s choice of the name Jesus in this context, in addition to the association of the name with “salvation”.

Second, it provides an explanation for Paul’s characterization of his Jesus as BOTH “… a man who is compounded of body and soul … who is thus born” as well as “… that incorporeal being who in no respect differs from the divine image”. With this tension in mind, perhaps such phrases by Paul as “… born (ginomai) of a woman …” (Gal 4:4) stem from bridging that metaphysical gap.

I suspect Paul used similar methodology --- with the LXX as his primary source --- to construct his entire system.

robert j


*** click on the links to the LSJ and the Middle Liddell here --- http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/res ... lang=greek

Philo's On the Confusion of Tongues --- http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book15.html

[Aleph One]

I think this is great work and it fits will with my own proclivities.

But are you suggesting a direct dependence of Paul on Philo for this idea? Couldn't it just be that their ideas inhabit the same realm of 1st century messianic midrash? If that is the case at least Paul would only be commiting one layer of allegolrization, or am I misunderstanding the iterative nature of the scriptural interpretations underlying the Christ hymn? (Which is possible because of my unfortunate reliance on translations.)

[robert j]

I think this is great work ...

Thanks

But are you suggesting a direct dependence of Paul on Philo for this idea? Couldn't it just be that their ideas inhabit the same realm of 1st century ... midrash? If that is the case at least Paul would only be commiting one layer of allegolrization...

That's certainly a possibility. But with the density of parallels in the respective short passages, I lean toward dependence of Paul on Philo.

[Stuart]

Interesting concept.

But be aware Philippians 2:9-11 is not attested in Marcion, and in verse 2:8 Marcion reads ἀνθρώπου for ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος with p46 syrJ cop Origen. Verses 2:9-11 shift the emphasis from Jesus to the father, and make it for his glory. Its a secondary concept associated with Catholic theology that post dates the Marcionite text here and elsewhere in Paul.

But aside from that I think you have the makings of a good paper, and I would look forward to reading the finished product about Paul and Philo.

[maryhelena]

I think this is great work ...

Thanks

But are you suggesting a direct dependence of Paul on Philo for this idea? Couldn't it just be that their ideas inhabit the same realm of 1st century ... midrash? If that is the case at least Paul would only be commiting one layer of allegolrization...

That's certainly a possibility. But with the density of parallels in the respective short passages, I lean toward dependence of Paul on Philo.

Interesting topic. Thanks for the OP.

Bringing Philo, died around 50 c.e. (Wikipedia), into the NT debates, one is not only bringing Philo' philosophy but also his family into the debate. They were, after all, living during that NT time-frame. Philo' nephew, Tiberius Julius Alexander, was procurator of Judea (c. 46 – 48). The other nephew,
Marcus Julius Alexander, (d. 43/44 c.e.) was married to the Herodian Princess Berenice. The NT Paul appearing before Berenice and her brother King Agrippa. Thus, although Philo is in Alexandria, Philo' ideas could well be known in Judea during the time-frame of the NT Paul.

Perhaps there is more to a connection between the ideas of Philo and the NT Paul than at first appears possible.

Have you considered this statement from Philo:

• Philo: Allegorical Interpretation, I
  
  XII. (31) "And God created man, taking a lump of clay from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life: and man became a living soul." The races of men are twofold; for one is the heavenly man, and the other the earthly man. Now the heavenly man, as being born in the image of God, has no participation in any corruptible or earthlike essence. But the earthly man is made of loose material, which he calls a lump of clay. On which account he says, not that the heavenly man was made, but that he was fashioned according to the image of God; but the earthly man he calls a thing made, and not begotten by the maker. (32) And we must consider that the man who was formed of earth, means the mind which is to be infused into the body, but which has not yet been so infused. And this mind would be really earthly and corruptible, if it were not that God had breathed into it the spirit of genuine life; for then it "exists," and is no longer made into a soul; and its soul is not inactive, and incapable of proper formation, but a really intellectual and living one. "For man," says Moses, "became a living soul."

my formatting
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book2.html

• 2 Cor. ch.15
  
  If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being;" the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Using Philo to interpret Paul here - the physical body does not morphy into a spiritual body. Both bodies, as it were, reside in one entity. Thus, is it not for Philo that the spiritual man is the mind of man and not some disembodied entity in a cosmic/celestial heaven?

Yes, the workings of the mind can conceive of a cosmic/celestial 'crucifixion' but one can interpret an intellectual 'crucifixion' in ways other than a disembodied outer-space cosmic celestial being scenario. However, whatever our intellectual ideas, they are only a part of our human identity. We are also physical beings - physical beings requiring humanitarian values to live our lives on terra-firma. The Jerusalem above (the mind) requires a Jerusalem below - our physical reality. The ahistoricists/mythicists have to find a way to accommodate that Jerusalem below into their debates with the JC historicists.

[Aleph One]

@maryhelena: Wow! There really is a close connection of ideas in those two quotes of Philo and Paul you give above. Not only the same ideas, but following the same kind of sequence of thoughts (at first glance at least). Also I wasn't aware of the close connections between Philo and those Judean politican figures.

[maryhelena]

@maryhelena: Wow! There really is a close connection of ideas in those two quotes of Philo and Paul you give above. Not only the same ideas, but following the same kind of sequence of thoughts (at first glance at least). Also I wasn't aware of the close connections between Philo and those Judean politican figures.

Yep, very close connections between the family of Philo and the rulers in Judea. Even to the point of playing banker.....Alexander the Alabarch being the brother of Philo.

Antiquities book 18 ch.6

• Agrippa........''sailed to Alexandria, where he asked Alexander the Alabarch to lend him two hundred thousand drachmae. He refused to lend it to him, but said that he would not refuse it to Cypros, impressed by her love for her husband and other examples of her virtue. She undertook to repay it and so Alexander gave them five talents in Alexandria and promised them the rest at Dicaearchea, in case Agrippa was getting ready to spend it. So Cypros bailed her husband out and sent him off on with his voyage to Italy, while she and her children left for Judea''.

[andrewcriddle]

Many expect too much of Paul’s logic, even though his letters are rife with fast-and-loose use of logic. Regardless, it often seemed to serve his aims.

Paul claimed to have predecessors in belief in his Jesus Christ. Setting that aside for now because we have nothing from those predecessors --- we only have Paul’s letters to pick-apart.

Paul’s use of allegorical readings of the Jewish scriptures is widely acknowledged --- even by Paul himself (Galatians 4:24). Paul even derived his calling by god from the scriptures ---

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles … (Galatians 1:15-16, NASB)

And a word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb, I had consecrated you; a prophet to nations I had made you.” (Jeremiah 1:4-5, LXX, NETS)

In Philo’s On the Confusion of Tongues, XIV. 60-63, it is widely accepted that the reference to the man named “East” is a reference to Zechariah 6:12, and that the passage is a result of Philo's allegorical readings of Genesis and Zechariah.

The table below demonstrates how Paul may have used an allegorical reading of an allegorical reading. Paul apparently used Philo’s allegorical treatment of Zechariah 6:12, in combination with Zechariah and Isaiah, to compose the “Christ Hymn” of Philippians. The focus here is on Philo --- further passages from the Jewish scriptures could be added to address other elements of Philippians 2:5-11.

Philippians 2:5-11
	And thou shalt take silver and gold, and make crowns, and thou shalt put [them] upon the head of Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest; and thou shalt say to him, Thus saith the Lord Almighty; "Behold the man whose name is east" (ἀνατολὴ -- rises, dawn***); and he shall spring up from his stem, and build the house of the Lord. And he shall receive power, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; (Zechariah 6:11-13, LXX)
Let this mind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with god a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, haven taken the form of a servant, having been made in the likeness of men. And having been found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself having become obedient unto death, even death of the cross. Therefore God highly exalted him, and granted to him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to glory of God the Father.	I have also heard of one of the companions (also translated as “disciples”) of Moses having uttered such a speech as this: "Behold, a man whose name is the East!" (ἀνατολὴ) [Zech 6:12.] A very novel appellation indeed, if you consider it as spoken of a man who is compounded of body and soul; but if you look upon it as applied to that incorporeal being who in no respect differs from the divine image, you will then agree that the name of the east has been given to him and describes him truly. For the Father of the universe has caused him to spring up as the eldest son, whom, in another passage, he calls the firstborn; and he who is thus born, imitating the ways of his father, has formed such and such species, looking to his archetypal patterns. (Philo, Confusion of Tongues, 62-63)
	… to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall acknowledge God, saying, righteousness and glory shall come to him...(Isaiah 45:23-24, LXX)

Paul’s derivation of his Philippian “Christ Hymn” from Philo supports solutions, at least in part, to a couple of vexing Pauline problems.

First, it provides an explanation for Paul’s choice of the name Jesus, in addition to the association of the name with “salvation”.

Second, it provides an explanation for Paul’s characterization of his Jesus as BOTH “… a man who is compounded of body and soul … who is thus born” as well as “… that incorporeal being who in no respect differs from the divine image”. With this tension in mind, perhaps such phrases by Paul as “… born (ginomai) of a woman …” (Gal 4:4) stem from bridging that metaphysical gap.

I suspect Paul used similar methodology to construct his entire system --- and that the letters Paul composed during his entrepreneurial endeavors are the wellspring, the origin of the Christian faith.

robert j.

*** sometimes translated as "branch", but click on the LSJ and the Middle Liddell --- http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/res ... lang=greek

Philo's On the Confusion of Tongues --- http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book15.html

The Septuagint of Zechariah goes on to say chapter 6 verse 13

And he shall receive power, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and there shall be a priest on his right hand, and a peaceable counsel shall be between them both.

i.e. The man whose name is East is a royal figure not a priestly figure i.e. he is distinct from Jesus/Joshua the high priest.

Andrew Criddle

[Bernard Muller]

In Philo’s On the Confusion of Tongues, XIV. 60-63, it is widely accepted that the reference to the man named “East” is a reference to Zechariah 6:12, and that the passage is a result of Philo's allegorical readings of Genesis and Zechariah.

That is far from certain that Philo was referring to 'Zechariah': He just borrowed "East" or "Rise" from Zechariah, but not willing to indicate the source for that name:
It's all explained here: http://historical-jesus.info/17.html

i.e. The man whose name is East is a royal figure not a priestly figure i.e. he is distinct from Jesus/Joshua the high priest.

I certainly agree with that.

Paul’s use of allegorical readings of the Jewish scriptures is widely acknowledged --- even by Paul himself (Galatians 4:24)

That's right. When Paul presented an allegory, he indicated it (Gal 4:24), but that's no reason to say he used allegories in other parts of his epistles.

Cordially, Bernard

[robert j]

The man whose name is East is a royal figure not a priestly figure i.e. he is distinct from Jesus/Joshua the high priest.

It doesn’t matter how you read it, or the way Philo read it --- it only matters how Paul might have read it (or how he chose to use it).

In the examples in the OP, the one consecrated by god to be a prophet to the nations even before coming forth from the womb in Jeremiah 1:4-5 --- wasn’t really Paul (Galatians 1:15-16).

And the one to whom every knee shall bow in Isaiah 45:23-24 --- wasn’t really Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10).

But that’s the nature of allegory and typology.