Philo's Understanding of Moses as Prophet

Abstract

One of Philo's apologetic and historical writings, De Vita Mosis, is regarded as the only treatise which shows his systematic understanding of Moses, and which expounds on the religious significance of Moses' life with a non-Jewish audience in mind. He highlights the four functionary roles of Moses: 1) as king, 2) as legislator, 3) as high priest, 4) as prophet. Among these four offices, Moses ‛necessarily' obtains the office of prophet in order to divinely guide the ordinary people who are singularly dependent upon common human reasoning. Divinely inspired prophecy communicates a realm of authority incomprehensible to common human rational. At this point, Philo clearly contrasts the providence of God expressed through prophecy to finite human reasoning and mind. According to Philo, such prophecy is classified into three types: that directly spoken by God with His prophet for interpreter, that revealed through question and answer, and that discerned by the inspired person. This essay, which hones in on the prophetic function of Moses, attempts to clarify both the interrelatedness and the cohesiveness of Moses' four-fold ministry as well as of his three-tiered prophetic activity.