σαφέστερον δε και καλλιον των ημετέρων προγόνων τις επε Σολομων, προ ουρανου και γης αυτην υπαρχειν. "Let this be transferred to Wisdom; for all light is from it. Wherefore some who are of the Peripatetic sect have said, that it has the office of a lamp, as those who constantly follow it shall remain without trouble through all their life. But Solomon, one of our ancestors,- more clearly and more beautifully said, That it existed before the heavens and the earth."-(Præparat. Evang. lib. vii. cap. 14.) This is an evident application of Proverbs, viii. 24-26, to the "Second Cause,” which, Eusebius says, is described by the Hebrews as the Beginning or Principle of all things, as generated from the First Cause, as the Word, and Wisdom, and Power of God.—(Lib. vii. cap. 12.) The force of this argument, arising from the fragment of Aristobulus, will be felt in a much stronger manner by reading the whole book of the Evangelical Preparation from whence it is extracted. Philo Judæus is too important a witness to the early opinions of the Jews to be overlooked on the present occasion; and he will be found, upon examination, to coincide with the testimony before produced. It will be seen, that he not only alludes to and cites the eighth chapter of Proverbs, but that he understood it in a personal sense, and actually applied it to the divine Logos. In the treatise De Confusione Linguarum, (p. 258, A. Colon. 1613,) he observes, TOUTOV μεν уар πрεσСνтаTOV VIOV ο των οντων ανέτειλε πατηρ, ον ετέρωθι πρωτογόνον ωνόμασε, και ο γεννηθείς μεντοι μιμούμενος τας του πατρος οδους, προς παραδειγματα αρχετυπα εκείνου βλέπων, εμορφου ειδη. “ Him the Father of all things that exist produced as his eldest Son, whom he elsewhere names his First-begotten; and He being generated, in imitation of his Father's ways, and viewing his archetypal patterns, modelled forms." By comparing this with D D the LXX version of Proverbs, viii. 22, et seq. it will appear very probable, that Philo had an eye to Solomon's description of Wisdom. In various places he speaks of the Logos as a Son, as begotten, as the First-begotten; as, for instance, De Somniis, p. 463, F.; Quod Deus sit immutabilis, p. 232, G.; De Confus. Ling. p. 267, B.; De Agricultura, p. 152, B. It is true, that the generation of the Son is declared Ps. ii. 7, lxxxix. 28; Micah, v. 2, but nowhere more forcibly or in more express terms than in the book of Proverbs: it is, therefore, most likely, that Philo gathered his notions respecting the generation of the Logos, at least in part, from the Proverbs, and that he alludes to the eighth chapter in the above passages, and many others that might easily be adduced. Again, in manifest allusion to Prov. viii. 22, 30, (perhaps also ch. iii. 19,) he styles Wisdom that " by which the universe was made,” την σοφίαν δι' ης απετελέσθη το παν, (Quod Deterius. Potior, &c. p. 128, C.;) but, in a multitude of passages, he attributes the creation of all things to the Word; which proves, that Philo identified Wisdom with the Logos, thereby establishing its personality. An important passage occurs in the treatise De Temulentia, (p. 190, D. Colon. 1613,) in which he cites a part of the eighth chapter of Proverbs. Επιστημην η συνων ο Θεος, ουχ ως άνθρωπος έσπειρε γενεσιν· η δε παραδεξαμενη το του Θεου σπερμα, τελεσφόροις ωδισι τον μόνον και αγαπητον αισθητον υιον απεκύησε τονδε τον κόσμον. εισάγεται γουν παρα τινι των εκ του θείου χορου η σοφια περι αυτης λεγουσα τον τροπον τούτον, Ο Θεος εκτίσατο με πρωτίστην των εαυτου εργων, και προ του αιώνος εθεμελίωσε με. "God had intercourse with his own Knowledge, and she, having received the seed of God, produced, by a perfect birth, his only and beloved sensible Son, this world; Wisdom is, therefore, introduced by a sacred Personage, speaking concerning herself, after this manner, God created me the first of his works, and founded me before the world was." It may reasonably be doubted, whether Philo borrowed any of his notions respecting the creation, and a plurality in the Divine Essence, from the Platonic philosophy; › a most unfortunate quot. (Kidder's Demonst. of the Messias, par. iii. cap. 6, p. 111; Allix, Judgment, &c. cap. 23; Jamieson's Vindication, &c. lib. i. cap. 2;) but his phraseology in the above-cited passage, and in another place, (Quod Deus sit immutabilis, p. 232, G.) where he calls the world "the younger son of God," as contradistinguished from the Logos, whom he calls the elder, resembles the language of Plato, who calls God the "Father of the world," speaking repeatedly in the Timæus of the world's being generated by the Deity, and even occasionally styling it μovoyevns, "the only-begotten." (Timæus, vol. ix. p. 307, B. p. 437, C.; De Anima Mundi, vol. x. p. 6. Compare Tim. vol. ix. p. 302, B. ed. Bipont. See Diog. Laert. lib. iii. p. 229, Genev. 1615; and Brucker, Hist. Phil. lib. ii. cap. 8.) This language was not peculiar to Plato; avèpes παλαιοι τονδε τον κόσμον, ως εκ Θεου γενόμενον, παιδα τε αυτού Kaι Nov рσTOV, "the ancients," says Celsus, "styled this και ηιθεον προσειπον, world, as if generated from God, his Son."-Origen contra Celsum, lib. vi. § 47. See Cicero, de Nat. Deor. lib. i. c. 8 et seq. Burnet has reviewed the physiology of the ancients in his Archæologia Philosophiæ. To return to Philo. If Solomon call Wisdom the beginning, (verse 22,) Philo, in like manner, says, τηv μɛv yap θεαν και ουρανιον σοφίαν πολλοις ωνομασεν ονόμασι, και πολυωνυμον ουσαν δεδηλωκε· και γαρ αρχην, και εικόνα, και ορασιν Θεου κεκληκε. “ He gave many names to the divine and heavenly Wisdom, and showed that she had many names; for he denominated her the Beginning, the Image, and the Vision of God."-(Lex. Allegor. p. 36, F.) The last term is, probably, an allusion to the appearances of the Word mentioned in the Old Testament; for Philo, in numerous instances, asserts that the Logos appeared to the patriarchs. -(See Allix, Judgment, cap. 13.) If Solomon say that Wisdom was the efficient cause or creator of all things, (ver. 22, 30,) Philo expressly asserts the same.-(Quod Det. Potior. p. 128, C.) If Solomon say that Wisdom existed before the earth, Philo, in exact correspondency, observes, copiar de πρεσβυτέραν ου μονον της εμης γενέσεως, αλλα και της του κόσμου παντος ούσαν, "that Wisdom is more ancient, not only than myself, but also than the whole world."-(De Charitate, p. 540, E.) If Solomon speak of the generation of Wisdom, Philo likewise says that Wisdom is spoken of in the feminine, that the dignity and preeminence of paternity might be preserved to God, evidently considering it as a subsisting Being, generated from him.-(De Profugis, p. 357, F.) If Solomon describe Wisdom as God's "daily delight, rejoicing always before him," (ver. 30,) Philo remarks, that Wisdom xapes. και γάννυται και τρυφα, επι μονω τω πατρι αυτης αγαλλομενη και σeμvvvoμevn Oew,” "rejoices, and delights, and exults, rejoicing and glorying in God her only Father."-(Lex. Allegor. p. 39, F.) It is worthy of remark, though irrelevant to my present design, that Philo describes Wisdom as the Rock in the wilderness, (Lex. Allegor. lib. iii. p. 853, A.) and St. Paul affirms that rock was Christ, 1 Cor. x. 4. From the evidence adduced, then, we may safely infer, that Philo understood the Wisdom delineated in Proverbs in a personal sense, and considered it as descriptive of a divine Hypostasis. That he also understood it as a title of the same Being whom he elsewhere terms the Logos, may be inferred from the preceding observations. This conclusion will be confirmed, when it is remarked, that he ascribes the same attributes and characters to both. Thus he styles the Logos the Image of God, the Creator of the world, Eternal, the Son of God, and the First-begotten of God, (see the proper references in Bryant's Sentiments of Philo Judæus, § iv. vii. xiv. i. iii.) and by these titles and attributes, as we have seen, he characterizes Wisdom. Should any doubt of their identity remain, it will be completely removed by his express EE |