This book provides a systematic analysis of how Alexandrian Jews interpreted the Bible in light of contemporary Homeric scholarship.

Maren R. Niehoff is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of Philo on Jewish Identity and Culture (2001).

1. Setting the stage; Part I. Early Jewish Responses to Homeric Scholarship: 2. A conservative reaction to critical scholarship in the letter of Aristeas; 3. Questions and answers in Aristotelian style: Demetrius' anonymous colleagues; 4. Aristobulus' questions and answers as a tool for philosophical instruction; Part II. Critical Homeric Methods in the Fragments of Philo's Anonymous Colleagues: 5. Comparative mythology; 6. Historical perspectives on Scripture; 7. Traces of text criticism among Alexandrian Jews; Part III. The Inversion of Homeric Scholarship by Philo: 8. Literal methods of Homeric scholarship in Philo's allegorical commentary; 9. Philo's questions and answers as a manual of instruction; 10. Philo's exposition of the law at a significant distance from Alexandrian scholarship; Epilogue; Abbreviations; Bibliography; Index.