Philon d'Alexandrie:critique de texte et interpretation

Abstract

The following remarks on Philo’s work concern the text and the interpretation of certain passages which are of interest for different reasons : the tradition may be insecure or faulty or the passage may have been more or less misunderstood. Each one is treated as a unity in itself, but comparison with other texts may give some information on Philo as an author. There are no general conclusions on the style, grammar or philosophical and theological views of the author. The traditions of the texts are complicated, not to say inextricable. Generally speaking, no manuscript or group of manuscripts give a more reliable lead to an original text than another. However, it sometimes appears that a manuscript shows a tendency of some kind, generally to explain and/or facilitate the text. The discussions start from the three comparatively modern editions of the text, called éd. Berlin, éd. Loeb and éd. Cerf, with the help of some few special editions and a German translation which often takes up textual problems; see Bibliography. Discussions and remarks of earlier critics have been taken into account as far as it has been possible to find them without a disproportionate amount of work on the reviews of the more than 30 editions which make up éd. Cerf.