Allegory Transformed

The Appropriation of Philonic Hermeneutics in the Letter to the Hebrews

by Stefan N. Svendsen

Book cover: Allegory Transformed

Extent: 273 pages

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Subjects: Ancient Near East, Biblical Studies

Series: Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2.Reihe

Series volume number: 269

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2009)

ISBN: 9783161499685

Price: $93.00

In stock

Scholars have long discussed whether the writer of Hebrews might have been influenced by Philo of Alexandria. In spite of any disagreement, though, academics have almost universally concurred that even if bits and pieces of Philo’s thinking should have filtered through to Hebrews, Philo and Hebrews certainly differed with respect to their biblical hermeneutics. Philo, the philosopher, read the Old Testament allegorically, whereas the Christian author of Hebrews committed himself only to typological exegesis. Stefan Nordgaard Svendsen challenges this consensus, arguing that the writer of Hebrews not only employed Philo’s allegorical method, but also developed his own readings of Scripture through critical rereadings of Philo’s exegetical results. This study sheds new light on the intellectual framework of Hebrews as well as on the letter’s purpose and rhetorical strategies.

  • By (author) Stefan N Svendsen