ARISTOBULUS OF PANEAS

flourished 2nd century BC Jewish Hellenistic philosopher who, like his successor, Philo, attempted to fuse ideas in the Hebrew Scriptures with those in Greek thought. Aristobulus lived at Alexandria in Egypt, under the Ptolemies. According to some Christian church fathers, he was a Peripatetic, but he also used Platonic and Pythagorean concepts. The Stoic technique of allegorizing the Greek myth served as a model for Aristobulus' writings, and for him the Old Testament God became an allegorical figure. In like manner, the Mosaic laws in the Scriptures were translated into allegorical symbols in his system. He believed that part of his mission in life was to prove that Greek culture was overshadowed and heavily influenced by Judaism.