Source edition
Philo Judaeus. Opera quae supersunt, Volume 6. Cohn, Leonard; Reiter, Siegfried, editors. Berlin: Reimer, 1915.
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a theological treatise describing the ascetic lifestyle of the "Therapeutae," a Jewish community dedicated to the contemplation of God and the healing of the soul. The author begins by criticizing various false forms of secular worship, contrasting them with the transcendent lives of these contemplatives who abandon their possessions to live communally near Lake Mareotis. They dwell in simple quarters, using a sacred chamber called the "Semneion" for daily prayer, allegorical scripture reading, and the composition of hymns. A central portion of the text is dedicated to contrasting the decadent banquets of the secular world and Classical Greece with the highly moral and spiritual feasts of the Therapeutae. During their sacred celebration on the fiftieth day, they fast from meat and wine, consuming only bread, salt, and water while listening to allegorical expositions of scripture. The treatise concludes with an inspiring description of their nocturnal vigil, where men and women unite in sacred choral song, culminating in a morning prayer to the rising sun before they return to their daily philosophy.