ARISTOBULO of ALESSANDRIA. - Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, apparently living in Alessandria in the time of Tolomeo IV Filometore (181–145 B.C.), to whom he dedicated his work, an extensive commentary on the Pentateuch.
From the few surviving fragments and from what the ancients, especially Clemente Alessandrino, say, it appears that A. preceded Filone, inaugurating an entirely allegorical interpretation of the Bible, which he skilfully employed, sometimes forcing the biblical text, in order to demonstrate a perfect homogeneity of teaching with Greek philosophy. In common with Filone, A. held the idea, also shared by certain Christian apologists, of the derivation of Greek thought from Hebrew wisdom. He maintained that, before the Septuagint, there existed a Greek translation of the Bible, used by the most eminent Hellenic poets (Orfeo, Omero, Lino, Esiodo) and philosophers (Pitagora, Socrate, Platone); and for this purpose he cited verses or passages, largely spurious and fictitious, from these ancient writers. The identification made by Clemente Alessandrino (Stromata, V, 14, 97) of this A. with that of Il Mach., 1, 10, is problematic.