How did Philo Judaeus explain biblical descriptions of God with human features?

Philo Judaeus, a 1st-century Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, sought to reconcile Jewish religious doctrines with Greek philosophical concepts by employing allegorical interpretation of the Bible.12

Regarding biblical descriptions of God that attribute human features or emotions to the Divine, Philo did not interpret these literally. Instead, he viewed such passages as figurative expressions designed to convey deeper, non-anthropomorphic truths. By applying Platonic and Stoic categories, Philo emphasized that God is transcendent and ultimately unknowable in essence.123

Philo was a pioneer in distinguishing between the knowability of God’s existence and the unknowability of His essence. To bridge the gap between this transcendent God and the material world, he utilized the concept of the Logos—the Divine Reason or Word—which served as an intermediary. Through his allegorical method, Philo aimed to demonstrate that the scriptures were consonant with philosophical reason, ensuring that the literal narratives served as vehicles for profound spiritual and intellectual insights rather than as descriptions of a physical or human-like deity.312