The Shelves · Philosophy

On the Contemplative Life

Περὶ βίου θεωρητικοῦ

Known · Attestedin Alexandria?Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement

I · The entry, in his form

In the table of Philosophy

Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement

c. 20 BCE–50 CE. Read the Septuagint through Plato, making the Logos the mediator between God and the world, and so shaped Clement, Origen and the whole Christian allegorical tradition. He described the contemplative Therapeutae by Lake Mareotis and led the Jewish embassy to the emperor Gaius after the riots of 38 CE.

On the Contemplative Life

Περὶ βίου θεωρητικοῦ

Opening words not preserved.

Length: not counted

Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.

II · Does it survive? Where to read it

Survives whole

Was it in Alexandria?

Known · Attested

Written in Alexandria.

On the table: written in Alexandria; no evidence it was in the Library.

Read it today

Greek with English (Scaife Viewer) · original and translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
Colson, Philo IX (public-domain Loeb scan, PDF) · a translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus (1854-1855) · a translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026

III · In the show

Nearest the show comes: Logos, Time, Archons, and Planetary Creation, episode 36, at 1 hour 51 minutes 19 secondsTranscriptKnown: attested
Nearest the show comes: Logos, Time, Archons, and Planetary Creation, episode 36, at 1 hour 53 minutes 6 secondsTranscript“What does the gospel of John say? In the beginning was the logos”The Logos as divine order. Philo's Logos is the nearest antecedent to John's; Philo is not named in the episode.Known: attested
Nearest the show comes: Esoteric vs institutional Christianity, episode 16, at 24 minutes 15 secondsTranscript“It was the Jews in Alexandria and you know and surrounding parts of the the Mediterranean that that had been influenced by henistic philosophy and religion.”Hellenistic Judaism in Alexandria, the world Philo is the chief witness to. Philo is not named.Known: attested

+ 4 more

Nearest the show comes: Pythagorean Parallels & Hellenistic Influence, episode 24, at 28 minutes 9 secondsTranscript“40% of the population of Alexandria uh was was Jewish”Known: attested
Correction
What was said
40% of Alexandria was Jewish.
What the sources say
There was no census. Philo says two of the city's five quarters were called Jewish, and that Jews lived scattered in the others; percentages are modern estimates.
Reference
- Philo, Against Flaccus 55
Pythagorean Parallels & Hellenistic Influence, episode 24, at 27 minutes 39 secondsTranscriptPythagorean parallels and Hellenistic influence on Jewish texts.Known: attested
Solomon, Grimoires & Hebrew Magical Traditions, episode 24, at 35 minutes 39 secondsTranscript“come from that whole early period of of the Hellenistic period in Alexandria and surrounding areas”Spells invoking the archangels, Moses and Solomon: the Jewish strand in the Greek papyri.Known: attested
Translation History: Hebrew to Greek to Latin, episode 17, at 27 minutes 18 secondsTranscript“henistic Judaism gave us two really important things for the western esoteric tradition.”Known: attested
Correction
What was said
The Septuagint means seventy books.
What the sources say
It is named for the seventy (or seventy-two) translators of the legend. Merkavah mysticism is not shown to be Alexandrian.
Reference
- Letter of Aristeas 46–50

IV · Sources and the living entry

Ancient references

Eusebius, Church History 2.17

Modern scholarship (3)

J. E. Taylor, Jewish Women Philosophers of First-Century Alexandria: Philo's 'Therapeutae' Reconsidered (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
F. H. Colson, G. H. Whitaker and R. Marcus, Philo, 10 vols and 2 supplements (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929-1962).
C. D. Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus, 4 vols (London: H. G. Bohn, 1854-1855).

Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›

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