How did the Septuagint influence Philo Judaeus’s reading of the Hebrew Bible?

The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible produced by Alexandrian Jews, was central to the intellectual environment of Philo Judaeus. Because the Jewish community in Alexandria was almost exclusively Greek-speaking, they regarded the Septuagint as divinely inspired.1

Philo’s reading of the Bible was fundamentally shaped by this Greek version, as he possessed almost total ignorance of Hebrew. The Septuagint provided the necessary Greek text that allowed Philo to apply Platonic and Stoic philosophical frameworks to Jewish doctrines. By utilizing the Greek translation, Philo could engage in extensive allegorical interpretation, which he used to harmonize the teachings of Moses with Greek philosophy.2345

While the Septuagint itself sometimes rendered Hebrew metaphors into less-figurative Greek to avoid confusion for Greek readers, Philo’s own method went further, treating the text as a source for profound philosophical and ethical truths. His reliance on the Greek text enabled him to present Judaism with cultural respectability, though his specific interpretive approach ultimately had more influence on early Christian thought than on contemporary Jewish tradition.453