CHAPTER FOUR REWRITTEN BIBLE? Introduction Philo did not only interpret small biblical units, but gave compre­ hensive presentations of the Laws of Moses to such an extent that one might claim that he largely rewrote the Pentateuch in the set of treatises called the Exposition qf ehe Laws qf Moses. Does he here place himself within the wider context of Jewish expository traditions? It has been attempted to group such traditions into a genre. In bis definition of the 'rewritten Bib1e' genre Ph.S. Alexander states that its framework is an account of events, and so they may be described broadly as histories. This genre is different from theological treatises, though the account of events may serve theological ends. 1 Does Philo's Exposition agree with this criterion? Philo begins with the story of Creation. He writes the who1e treatise Opif. on Gen 1-3, using the biblical form of hexaemeron, and rewrites in biblica1 sequence the stories about the Garden, the Serpent, the Fall and its consequences. He follows the biblical order in AbT. 7-16 in his account of Enos, Enoch, Noah and the Deluge, and in AbT. 17- 276 on Abraham. Several events in the life of Abraham are recorded, his migration, his adventures in Egypt, the three angelic visitors, the destruction of the cities of the Plain, the sacrifice of Isaac, the settle­ ment of the dispute with Lot, his victory over the four kings, Sarah and Hagar, and Sarah's death. In Jos. 1 Philo refers back to Abraham, Isaac andJacob, and in Jos. 2-156 he deals with the story ofJoseph.2 Several events in Joseph's career are included in the treatise: Joseph's dream, bis being sold to merchants, who in turn sold bim to Potiphar. The history in Potiphar's house is recorded, so also Joseph's imprison­ ment, bis life in prison, his interpretation of dreams and bis release and exaltation. Joseph's activities as viceroy are told, and the story I Alexander (1988) 116. 2 The treatises on Isaac and Jacob are lost, but Philo refers to them in the intro­ duction to On Joseph, Jos. 1. 64 CHAPTER FOUR about his brothers and his father and about Joseph's death. Philo omits events from the experiences of the Israelites in Egypt, and also the story of the Exodus. He gives aseparate account of the story of Moses and events in Egypt and the Exodus in the treatises On ehe life oJ Moses 1-2, however. But in the Exposition he moves from the accounts of the Patriarchs Enos, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph to the scene where the people are assembled in the desert and receive the Law. An extensive presentation of the Law follows in Dec. and Spec. 1-4. In spite of the systematic outline of Philo's treatment of the virtues in Spec. 4:132-238 and On ehe Vir­ Wes, their extensive exemplification consists largely of biblical events and laws. Finally the treatise On ehe Rewards and Punishments reviews some biblical stories and develops an eschatological scenario. Thus Philo's Exposition is in agreement with Alexander's criterion that the framework of the rewritten Bible genre is an account of events which largely follows the chronology of the Bible. Also the circumstance that Philo is selective and that he omits passages does not undercut this conclusion, although his omission of events about the Israelites in Egypt and their Exodus creates a chronological hia­ tus. As already stated the lacking sections are written down sepa­ rately in On ehe life oJ Moses. Philo's comprehensive presentation of the Mosaic Laws makes the Exposition also to a code of law. From this viewpoint the story of the Creation serves as a proem, and the story of the Patriarchs is integrated into the law code by regarding them as embodiments of unwritten law and as archetypes that preceded the written law. Y. Amir under­ stands Philo's Exposition on this basis without including the chrono­ logical rewriting of the biblical history in his characterization.3 Amir's view makes it difficult to classify the Exposition as a rewritten Bible in the sense suggested by Alexander, in particular since he in principle excludes explicit theological and philosophical statements and aims from his definition. Alexander's definition seems to be too restrictive, however, since Josephus in his rewritten Bible, the Antiquities, formulates theological and philosophical views.4 For example, both Philo andJosephus enter­ tain the idea that the Law is in harmony with the universe, OPif. 3 and Ant. 1:24, and both give a cosmic interpretation of the taber­ nacle and the clothing of the high priest (Spec. 1:84-96; Mos. 2:88, 3 Amir (1988) 424-26. 4 Niehoff (1996) 31-45. .